ACES of SEED
by longherin
Summary: Four Wings of Strangereal gets plopped into the SEED verse and fly around and be awesome. Essentially the Ace Combat franchise running into the Gundam Seed universe at full speed. It's messy and hopefully enjoyable.
1. Stage 1 - The Wings of Strangereal

"Are these the so-called 'mercenaries'?"

Four men looked up at the sound of that voice, a man dressed in a white officer's uniform.

"Yes sir." His aide said, looking down at the documents in his hands. "They've only recently arrived on base. Central command says we are to outfit them for battle."

The officer scoffed. "Pah. Damned Eurasians, sending us pilots without wings." He then raised his voice, addressing the four pilots. "I don't know who you are, and I frankly don't care. My aide will show you your quarters and your assigned units. Dismissed." He turned and left.

The aide waited until the man was out of earshot, and then sighed.

"I apologize for our commander's brash words. The situation in space is quite trying as it is."

The oldest of them waved it off. "It's understandable."

The aide then motioned for the four to follow.

…

"These are your crafts; they've been inspected and are in good working order." The aide said, standing in front of four rather odd looking crafts.

Said crafts had a cockpit attached to two large "legs" of engines, along with a pair of hard point arms mounted near the front. They were painted a silvery grey.

"TS-MA2 Moebius." The aide said, missing a sideways glance shared between two of the men in the back. "These are our workhorses of space. Familiarize yourselves with the controls within the following weeks." Nods all around. "Very good, your quarters are…"

…

…

"Now then, now that we're all settled in… how about some introductions all around?" One of the pilots, the youngest looking one, said.

It was several hours later and the four pilots spent their time reading the manual to the Moebius crafts that they would be flying, noting how one of the pilots would seemingly twitch every time he saw the word "Moebius".

None of the pilots knew each other; they had, after all, only came up with the term "Mercenaries" as a cover story and let the eldest one do all the talking. Now they had to make that cover story stick.

"I'll go first, then." The youngest pilot said, after getting lukewarm response from the rest of them. "My call sign is Garuda one, TAC Name Talisman. I serve in the Emmerian Air force, 8th Wing, 28th Fighter Squadron."

The name –Emmerian— got a stir. "A pilot from Emmeria? Out here in god knows where? Looks like we have a little more in common than I thought." One of the other pilots said, smiling slightly, before extending a hand.

"TAC Name Blaze, call sign" He hesitated for a fraction of a second. "Wardog Leader." The younger pilot looked at him in shock. "Osean Air force, 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron."

"The Ghosts of Razgriz." Talisman whispered in awe.

Blaze looked distinctly uncomfortable. "I didn't know we were called that."

"My turn next?" The not-oldest one said, after everyone else turned and looked at him for a moment. "I don't have a TAC name. Callsign Mobius one, I'm attached to the ISAF 118th Tactical Fighter Squadron."

Blaze got up. Apparently his discomfort among strangers vanished, once he realized he was among people he knew, in some fashion. "We're not worthy." He said, comically worshipping the man while standing up.

"Looks like we're all Aces in Strangereal." The oldest man said, smirking. "6th Air Division, 66th Air Force, Galm Team Number One, Cipher."

Cue shocked looks from everyone at the table, although part of them expected something to that effect.

"Looks like we're all Aces, indeed." Mobius One mused.

…

Stories were swapped, and timelines were confirmed.

Cipher was fresh off his victory party after the destruction of the Excalibur, the super weapon deployed in the Belkan War. The Demon Lord of the Round Table, as he would have been called later, is famed for his brutal and total annihilation of all targets on the field. Cipher looked a bit cowed by that last bit, as he himself made sure to spare unnecessary targets from destruction when he could; it was a waste of ammo anyways.

Mobius One, given the New TAC name "Ribbon" (much to his bemused chagrin) was preparing for an attack on Stonehenge, a massive ring of anti-air cannons that would have marked his meteoric rise to fame and popularity as the most famous Ace on the planet. Ribbon became extremely uncomfortable once he was told by Blaze that he would be considered the equivalent fighting force of an entire squadron.

Blaze, comparatively less known than the two (as he sees it) gods before him, was nevertheless known as of the "Four Wings of Sand Island" or, alternatively, "Demons of Razgriz." Having just returned from his attack on the large scale submarine Hrimfaxi, Blaze was certainly aware of that second nickname.

"But why a ghost?" He asked.

Talisman clarified that, at some point, Wardog squadron was branded traitors of Osean and shot down, but a mysterious squad of four fighters later rose up out of nowhere and ended the second Belkan war, the Unsung war. It is believed by many pilots (Talisman among them) that the second squad was indeed Wardog, and that they simply were not shot down at all. Upon hearing this, Blaze simply shrugs.

Talisman, being the youngest of the group, had no one to fill him in on the roles he would play in the Anean Continental War. While he had more flight time than at least Blaze and Ribbon (having had around two years of experience prior to the Invasion of the Emmerian Capital of Gracemeria besides basic training) his pride was in tatters due to the loss of said Capital and the barely executed defense of the Air Force Base on Vitoze. The Angel of Emmeria had yet to earn his wings.

…

"Still, I can't believe we're all Strangereal Pilots." Blaze muttered, changing into his flight suit.

"We can worry about that later." Ribbon replied, doing the same.

"Yeah, it's odd enough already; ever flown in space before?" Blaze was starting to feel a bit nervous.

Ribbon shook his head.

A single thought rang through both their heads at that moment. _Shit._

…

"Razgriz squadron, you're cleared for takeoff, deploy immediately." Blaze heard over his communication set in the cockpit of his Moebius craft.

Razgriz was the name the four aces of Strangereal decided for themselves; in all honesty none of them (except maybe Talisman) expected to use said moniker except as a formality. They were, after all, Aces who earned their wings on individual flying.

"Razgriz Leader, roger." The few hours spent with the manual was paying off, as nobody managed to crash.

Immediately upon clearing the ship, the four aces started testing everything about their crafts.

"I have to admit this isn't how I thought space would be like." Cipher said, putting his craft into a spin for a moment before getting it back under control.

…

"What the hell are they doing?" The aide deadpanned, looking at the four Moebius crafts flailing through space, behaving for all their worth like decorated space junk.

…

"All Razgriz crafts report in." Blaze said, having been nominated as the leader of the squadron.

"Razgriz two." Cipher.

"Three." Ribbon.

"Four." Talisman.

There was a discussion on which pilot is better, Cipher or Ribbon, but no conclusion was reached due to a distinct lack of atmosphere to fly in and compete.

"We're coming in to the Endymion Crater, stay on your toes." Blaze said, looking at the flashes in the distance. "Two's with me, three and four stay together."

Nobody questioned it; they're not the aces of space yet.

Soon enough, the four saw the enemy in their sights: ZGMF-1017 GINN units.

All of them expressed some level of shock and indignation at having to fight against highly mobile humanoid weapons: going against a target that can turn a full 180 degrees in a matter of seconds was not something any one of them relished doing, especially for the three that were aware of the exploits of a certain Phoenix.

"Razgriz squadron, join the battle." Blaze heard over the comms.

"Roger that. Razgriz squadron, cleared to engage. Don't get cocky out there."

As every one of them expected, nobody used the Razgriz moniker at this point.

"Blaze, engaging."

"Cipher, engaging."

"Garuda One, engaging."

And then everyone felt a slight chill.

"Mobius One, engage."

…

"Ginn sighted, vector zero-two-zero. Talisman?"

"I'm on you. Let's do this."

"Copy." Mobius One, Ribbon, leveled his craft's nose at the enemy at turned off the auto-tracker, and fired two shots from the linear gun. The Ginn shook from the two shots hitting its back, and turned around in a hurry with its Heavy Machine Gun raised.

The Ginn pilot saw a blur of silvery grey race past his target screen and started to turn to catch the target, before being forced to stop after taking another hit on the wing.

"Talisman, target hit." Talisman said as he flew across the Ginn while taking a moment to inspect the damage. "Geez, these guns are horrid. No visible damage done."

"Flank him."

"Roger."

The Ginn pilot paused for a moment and sighted the Moebius to his left, and fired a short burst. The Moebius craft jinked out of the way in a large, exaggerated movement.

Talisman swore, before wrestling back control of his craft. "Damned lack of air."

"I have him." Mobius one said, firing three shots and hitting the Ginn's head with one of them, before darting by. Talisman regained control of his craft, and kept the enemy in his sights until the auto-tracker gave him a tone of lock.

The Ginn immediately went into evasion mode, flying as erratically as he could to dodge the supposedly incoming fire.

"Figured." Talisman grumbled and turned off his auto-tracking, and chased after the Ginn.

"Hey! You guys having fun? Give us a piece!" Blaze's jovial voice came over their unit speakers.

Nobody needed to say it: The lone Ginn was giving them trouble, and they knew it. Better to fly together and kill it than to spread out and do nothing.

"Copy that lead." Talisman chuckled, "watch your locks."

Cipher and Blaze promptly turned their gun auto-trackers off and headed after the now slowing down Ginn.

"Man, evasive flying isn't their forte, isn't it." Blaze shook his head. "Razgriz, let them have it!"

Four Linear guns roared in reply, blasting the Ginn's extremities into scrap.

"These things are built really well." Talisman said, surveying the damage. The Ginn's torso cockpit section was largely intact, but its arms, arm shoulder pads, legs (from the knee down), and head were all blasted off.

"Well, this means we just need to cut off its arms." Cipher said.

"Affirmative on that. Razgriz, let's go." Blaze said, as the four crafts headed into the battlefield.

Or, rather, the four crafts stayed on the outer edges of the battlefield, looking for a target of opportunity rather than diving into the fray.

As Talisman could see, the need to be extra cautious was rubbing the Demon Lord and Mobius One the wrong way.

"We got another one. Razgriz, engage." Blaze said suddenly, having picked up a Ginn that strayed just a little too far from the action. The four crafts turned and dove after it.

…

"What's with these guys?" The ship-bound operator exclaimed in a mix of confusion and exasperation; the Earth Alliance training handbooks said nothing about squad-based combat operations, and this was his first time seeing a Ginn actually get taken down by Moebius crafts at close range.

…

"Cipher, break off."

The Ginn fired his giant rifle, which Cipher dodged with an exaggerated action. The Ginn taking the shot showed his back to another craft while Cipher cursed the lack of air.

"Mobius One, firing." His craft lurched as his gun found its mark in the back of the Ginn.

This particular Ginn pilot was smart enough to realize that standing stock still on the battlefield was a hilariously stupid idea, and engaged his thrusters to lose the circle of Moebius crafts.

"He's running." Blaze fired two shots at the Ginn, who dodged it with its exceptional maneuverability.

The Ginn turned around while mobile, and received a shot to the chest for its troubles.

"Keep flying straight." Blaze said lightly, as the Ginn turned around to evade some more, but not before taking another shot to its back. "Makes our jobs easier."

"I have a lock." Mobius One said suddenly, "Mobius One, fox two!"

His Moebius craft fired one of its four missiles, and the Ginn responded by trying to evade even harder.

"Take the shot, gentlemen." Mobius one said, as the missile exploded, barely grazing the Ginn, who was trying to regain control after his wild evasion tactics.

The instant the Ginn stopping flying erratically it was struck by a barrage of linear gun fire.

Now missing its head, left arm, shoulders, and half of the left leg, the Ginn turned and accelerated away at top speed.

"Are we letting him go?" Cipher asked; it was money down the drain, after all. He then silently reminded himself that he wasn't a real mercenary at this place.

"Affirmative. We're…what the hell was that?" Blaze said, suddenly experiencing a strange tingling sensation in his stomach.

The other three felt it too, and the combination of familiarity and omen struck them hard, before Mobius One had an epiphany.

"This feels the same as Stonehenge." Mobius One inhaled. "We need to get out of here. Right now."

Cipher nodded, despite no-one being there to see it. "Feels like the Excalibur to me. We're out, let's move!"

The four crafts turned tail and ran.

Moments later, the crater was engulfed in a huge explosion.

…

…

*Months later*

…

…

"Razgriz squadron, you're cleared to land."

Razgriz One, Blaze, lead his flight into the cargo carrier.

"Nicely done, Razgriz. Welcome to Heliopolis."

…

"We're 'peacekeepers'." Talisman said again, for about the fifth time this hour.

"Yeah, might as well get used to it." Blaze muttered, reviewing in his mind for the fifth time how the faces of the Earth Alliance officers fell after they justified their retreat as "a feeling they had". He had zero doubt that they were sent to this particular station as a reward for that "feeling".

Cipher managed to do some fast talking with the officers to let them do some modifications to their crafts per their status as mercenaries. He had (along with Blaze) deduced correctly that the officers had something else in mind with the "peacekeeping" force they were sending to a neutral station, thus the Razgriz squadron were allowed to modify their crafts as they please, and to operate independent of the Earth Alliance chain of command unless otherwise specified.

Which meant all the crafts are now painted with their insignias, since silvery grey was already an unusual color for the Earth Alliance Moebius crafts.

"Oh? More Moebius pilots? Are you guys new?" The four heard a voice behind them. Blaze turned and saw a blonde man in an officer's uniform with a confident and friendly grin on his face.

_No reason to be hostile. _Blaze reasoned. "Yes sir, we're transferring here as an independent peacekeeper force."

He saw the man scowl for a fraction of a moment. "For a neutral colony? Man, high command is getting more arrogant by the day. What did you guys do?" The man laughed.

"We had a bad reason to get away from Endymion." Cipher said from up front; the entire wing had stopped for the chat.

"A bad reason? Wait, you guys were at Endymion too? Which wing were you attached to?" The officer said with genuine shock.

Mobius One, Ribbon, shrugged. "We came in at the tail end of the battle."

"Huh, how interesting. Ah!" He looked a bit sheepish. "I haven't even introduced myself. Mu La Flaga, pleased to make your acquaintances, gentlemen."

"Blaze."

"Cipher."

"Ribbon."

"Talisman."

"Are those your real names?" Mu laughed.

Blaze grinned in response. "They might as well be."

…

…

"Shit, seriously? The hell is ZAFT thinking?!" Blaze swore as he quickly strapped himself into his craft.

"Guess they didn't like how we looked. All units! Intercept the enemies as soon as you take off!" Mu La Flaga said, pulling out of the dock in his orange Moebius Zero.

"Razgriz, check in." Blaze said, pulling out of dock quickly, followed by his squadron.

"Two." "Three." "Four."

"All Razgriz units, cleared to engage all ZAFT forces. Stay together for this one." Blaze said, watching a Ginn cut a friendly Moebius craft in half with a sword on a fly-by. "These guys look skilled."

"Sounds interesting, this squad combat thing." Mu said lightly, using the Gun barrels that were a signature to the Moebius Zero to perforate a Ginn. Said Ginn promptly exploded and destroyed two of the barrels in response. "They're self-destructing. Must be a special ops force." He muttered.

"Razgriz lead, copy." Blaze had seen the unit explode, and turned on his auto-tracker. Soon enough it sounded the lock-on tone as it locked on to a Ginn. Said Ginn pulled a sharp turn and leveled its large recoilless rifle at his Moebius.

The Ginn was then promptly shot in the face by Talisman's Moebius fighter.

"They're pretty good." Blaze said after regaining control behind the now head hurt Ginn. "All units watch out for the enemy explosions. They're a bit suicidal."

The Ginn responded by pulling out its Heavy Machine Gun and spraying bullets ineffectually all over the place in front of him. Blaze put it out of its misery with a stream of Vulcan fire into the Ginn's back.

"These Naturals are oddly skilled." A pilot in a white mobile suit mused.

Mu La Flaga felt an odd flash. "Is that…?"

"That looks like a commander unit." Mobius One remarked upon seeing the white mobile suit.

As if in consensus all four units chased after it.

Two Ginns flew to the aid of the white command unit as it headed into the colony.

Mu La Flaga's Moebius Zero flew past them at top speed.

"Man's got a one track mind. Razgriz, spread out."

"Two." Cipher locked onto one of the Ginns and fired a missile.

The Ginn turned on its burners and rose higher, only to be intercepted with a shot from Cipher's Linear Gun. As it staggered in space he fired another missile at it, and it struck the Ginn in the torso, likely killing the pilot.

Mobius One flew behind the second Ginn that had its overlarge gun aimed at him, and pulled a very sharp 180 degree turn in the zero gravity, and as the Ginn turned around to intercept, Mobius One fired a missile at the Ginn without bothering to wait for a lock.

The Ginn kicked its engines to full and avoided a direct impact with the missile by dodging to his right.

Blaze intercepted said Ginn's evasion by firing a missile into the Ginn's path of evasion, hitting it square in the back and totaling the craft.

The entire exchange took about thirty seconds.

"Alright, we're done, Flaga might need our help." Blaze called, already moving onto the next battlefield in his mind.

Historians have often argued about the capabilities of the Aces of Strangereal. Opinions ranged from "they use drugs" to "they are all the same person". What most people fail to account for is one, quite simple, fact.

The Aces of Strangereal are all fast learners.

…

…

"I'm gonna be honest, the insides of a colony amaze me." Talisman said, taking a moment to look around at the ground all around him.

"Same here; now where did that command unit go…" Cipher muttered, before catching himself.

"All units, this is still space, don't get complacent." Blaze laughed, catching Cipher's odd action.

"I see it, Command unit at zero-five-zero." Talisman suddenly said. "Looks like it's fighting with some other units."

"Whoa, wait. They stocked combat weapons in a neutral colony?" Mobius One raised an eyebrow.

Guess they did have something up their sleeve." Blaze grunted. "Razgriz, we're taking that Command unit. Watch your fire." Three affirmatives came in reply.

"Shit, Jink!" Mobius One suddenly said, and the four broke formation.

…

"They're quite good." The pilot of the white command unit said, having just sprayed fire in the direction of the incoming Moebius unit. "I didn't know Earth still had pilots of that caliber; just where were you hiding them, Mu La Flaga?"

Mu smirked, firing a Gunbarrel gun at the Command unit. "They're a surprise gift, Rau Le Cruset!"

Rau raised his shield-mounted Gatling gun and fired at the Moebius Zero, largely ineffective as the small orange craft zipped out of the way. Before hearing the Earth Alliance communcations from the Moebius crafts. _Apparently the Moebius pilots don't know their encryption._ Rau thought.

"Flaga, you alright?" Blaze said.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm taking this bastard down right here, right now." Mu replied, turning around for another run.

"Give it your best shot, Flaga." Rau said mockingly.

"We'll assist. Razgriz."

"We're here. Let's do it." Mobius One responded, turning to put a little more distance between himself and the white command unit, before needing to evade a little harder to dodge some shots from said command unit.

"Blaze, I'm with you." Talisman said, putting himself a little behind Blaze.

Rau sighted one of the Moebius units and opened fire with his machine gun, forcing the Moebius to dodge to the side. He then fired his shield-mounted Gatling and raked the Moebius with fire.

"Shit, I'm hit! Right engines are down." Mobius One detached the single missile attached to the right hard point; it exploded behind him. "I'm still in the air."

"I got him." Blaze said, having maneuvered behind Rau's unit in the meantime. A single Linear Gun round flew at the Command Unit...

And Rau quickly dodged out of the way while twisting to bring his machine gun to bear on the Moebius behind him, only to need to dodge again due to a shot from Cipher, aimed at his side again.

Cipher, for his part, had to break off the attack to avoid flying face first into a burst of fire.

"These guys are good." Everyone muttered about everyone else.

Rau fired both of his guns wildly around him, forcing all the Moebius crafts to break off their attack runs. He then took the advantage and made a quick exit out of the colony.

"Not a commander for nothing." Blaze muttered, restraining himself from firing a parting shot after the Command Unit. "All units stand by."

"Roger. What's that thing down there?" Talisman said, looking down at the giant humanoid unit.

"That's our secret." Mu La Flaga said. "The Strike."

"Not much of a secret if you told us what it was." Cipher turned his Moebius a little, and frowned. He then frowned harder. "Look at those things. I guess they were carriers for those weapons."

The other Aces turned to look at the five empty Mobile Suit carrier trucks. "Guess there were more than one. What happened to the rest?" Mobius One wondered out loud. _Good thing there's no atmosphere; otherwise I'd be crashing and burning. _He thought to himself.

A beep caught his attention. An unregistered ship appeared on his radar behind him. He twisted to look and caught the sight of a large, oddly shaped space ship that looked as if it had legs.

"Looks friendly." Talisman said, before changing his communications to a general Earth Alliance channel. "This is the Independent Earth Alliance Fighter Squadron Razgriz; unidentified ship, state your affiliation."

A brief pause, before a woman's voice came over the line. "This is the Earth Alliance Battleship Archangel; I've never heard of a Fighter Squadron with that name."

"We're a bit new to the neighborhood." Blaze said. "Archangel, this is Razgriz leader, requesting permission to land." He watched as the Moebius Zero went to dock without getting clearance. _Must be emergency times._

"Uh, Roger, Rasgrease. You have permission to land."

…

…

"This boy was in that thing?" Mobius One was shocked.

The boy in question happened to be the one and only Kira Yamato. Surrounded by his friends and facing down a wall of guns.

"I was unaware the Earth Federation employed child soldiers." Cipher said with a slight edge in his voice.

"I wasn't piloting it because I wanted to." Kira said.

"He did it to protect all of us." A brown haired girl said, looking a bit hurt and lot angry.

"So it seems. So why are we pointing guns at him?" Mu La Flaga walked in with a sigh of exasperation.

"He's a Coordinator." A severe looking woman with black hair said, as if that explained everything.

"Someone clarify why that's dangerous?" Talisman asked.

"We're currently at war with the Coordinators." The same woman replied, looking annoyed.

"Yeah? And he saved all your asses. You should all be thanking him instead of pointing your guns at his face." Cipher growled. A few of the soldiers looked sheepish at this, and lowered their guns.

Mobius One scowled as well; racial prejudice was not something he was used to seeing, considering the nature of his previous employer. "Regardless, can we be briefed on the current situation?"

"What's there to brief? The Earth Alliance used a neutral colony to develop weapons and ZAFT found out." Mu laughed bitterly. "And now we're paying for it."

"In any case, we need to chase down the four stolen suits and report back to headquarters." The woman with long brown hair said. "Lieutenant Flaga, being the ranking officer, will you take command of the ship?"

He shook his head. "You know more about this ship than I do; besides," He glanced at the four Aces of Strangeal. "Their crafts aren't combat worthy right now, and we need all the guns we can get."

The four aces almost sighed in unison: After the attack by the enemy command unit all four Moebius crafts almost simultaneously blared warnings in the cockpit about engine troubles. Their best guess was that the Moebius crafts simply weren't built to handle the erratic flying the Aces employed in combat. Either way, the Moebius crafts in question are currently stored in the Archangel's hangers, smoking slightly.

…

…

"So how are we getting this ship out of the colony?"

The four Aces looked out of the bridge window; the severe looking black-haired woman (Natarle, her name was) shot them a few disapproving glances every few seconds but didn't say anything.

"If you have any good ideas, I'd love to hear it." The brown haired captain of the ship (Murrue Ramius) sighed; they had just confirmed the destruction of the military dock that would normally have allowed them to get out of the colony.

The bad news was topped off by the hesitation to blast the debris away for fear of damaging the colony further. Cipher scoffed at that justification, and when pressed said the colony's already damaged beyond repair. Nobody asked why he thought so.

"Considering ZAFT's attempts to get this ship and the mobile suits, we can assume that they will use whatever tools at their disposal to do so." Ribbon said, scratching his chin.

"So you think they'll blow the colony?" Blaze said, surprised.

Cipher pointed to the captain of the ship. "Their attempt number one almost succeeded."

Murrue frowned. Cipher had found out about the attack on the Archangel's original crew in around thirty seconds of talk with the captain and executive officer, and had zero issues with vocally expressing his distrust in the experience of the current ragtag crew.

"Besides, this colony is already screwed beyond repair." Cipher continued. "Wouldn't put it past anyone to claim that it was destroyed as an act of" he raised his hands to do air quotes "accidental fire."

"So we wait until they bust us out?" Talisman said, a slight edge to his voice.

"What choice do we have?" Cipher shrugged. "The only things we have are a Zero and a child."

Blaze sighed. Kira Yamato, the brown-haired, supposedly super-human coordinator, was adamantly refusing to pilot the mobile suit he was previously in. The X-105 Strike, then, was currently sitting without a pilot as Mu tried to talk him into going into battle.

"The four of you are ace pilots, are you not?" Natarle suddenly said. "Couldn't one of you pilot the Strike?"

"Would love to, but none of us have experience in a Mobile Suit." Ribbon responded.

"Even if they did, that OS the kid wrote is insane." Mu said, coming into the bridge. "Did you see that thing? Only someone like him could pilot it."

"Have him rewrite it then." Cipher said instantly.

Mu shook his head. "Kid won't do it, and the mechanics won't let him do it either."

Blaze raised an eyebrow.

"They said they'd let him do it after they're done copying it to a backup."

Faces met palms on the bridge.

"Now's not the time to be thinking about something like that." One of the weapons operators said as he got up and left.

"Murdoch, don't leave your" Natarle said as Murdoch raced out of the bridge. "station." She sighed.

"Can't be helped; he was a hangar crewman before we got hit." Murrue said, adding the last bit as an explanation.

Suddenly, warning sirens blazed in the bridge.

"Heat signatures detected!" All hands were alert. "ZAFT is…attempting to shoot through the colony!" A nameless operator said.

"What?!" Natarle and Murrue said.

"How can you tell?" Ribbon wondered.

"The Archangel has connections to a sensor array on the outside of the colony in case we needed to deploy. Damn ZAFT." Natarle explained, adding the little bit at the end in an undertone.

Murrue scowled. "All hands condition one, brace for impact; we'll break thorough in one go." The communications officer relayed her orders to the rest of the ship. "Weapons, arm Gottfried. Prepare to fire."

The ship shook.

Or, rather, the view outside the bridge shook.

The four Aces of Strangereal looked on in shock as the ground before their eyes trembled and broke apart, revealing the seams of steel that held them together.

"Missiles incoming!"

"Intercept!" Murrue said.

Through the bridge they could hear the dull whirr of the anti-aircraft guns, and the area in front of them lit up with explosions, shredding the pieces of the colony down further.

"Gottfried, fire!" Natarle said.

The ship rumbled as four green beams of light streaked through the ex-colony air (now very much so space) and caused more explosions to happen.

"Archangel, full speed ahead! All weapons fire at will!" Murrue said.

"Second shot incoming!" A second shot hit the colony debris and burned it up, and didn't reach the ship.

"Counter-fire!" Natarle commanded.

The Gottfried cannons swerved to the direction where the enemy fire came from and returned in kind.

"I don't know if we got a hit." The weapons operator commented.

"It's fine; we just need to get out of here." Murrue waved him off, as they watched the colony's debris float past them as the ship shook with debris impacts.

…

"That ship's escaping the colony debris." The captain of the opposing ship said, watching said ship on monitor.

"Well, let them run a little; pursuing through colony debris isn't good for our ship or our status." Rau Le Cruset said, his voice doing the shrugging for him.

"Yes sir." The captain said, "Have all pilots on standby."

"Yes sir." The executive officer said, before relaying the order.

"Have the captured units on standby as well." Rau added in, thinking of the unrecovered Mobile Suit.

…

"We've cleared the Heliopolis debris, where do we go next, captain?" The helmsman of the Archangel said.

The bridge felt oddly empty now that the four Aces weren't standing around, Murrue mused.

"Captain, the ship wasn't fully supplied when it was under attack; I advise that we head to Artemis." Natarle said, looking at a map on her screen.

"I agree. Set course for Artemis." Murrue commanded.

"Will they actually help us?" The communications officer mused, "They're the Eurasian branch, after all."

"We're still Federation, bad blood aside." Murrue mused.

…

"Oy! You guys came at just the right time! How did you burn them out that badly?!"

The four aces were in the hangar, being hailed as they watched their Moebius crafts go through what seemed to be a total overhaul.

"You guys actually have the parts for that?" Blaze wondered as he descended down to the hangar floor; not having gravity is great for jumping off of railings.

"We don't; these are reserve engines for the Mobile Suits that we're not gonna use any time soon." The Chief Engineer Murdoch said with a sigh.

Cipher whistled under his breath. "Pretty good work for a rush job." The Moebius craft's old engines were stripped off entirely and the new ones looked like they were forcibly bolted on to its two "legs", which they were.

Murdoch grinned. "If you got some requests for these babies I'd love to hear them."

The four Aces looked at each other for the briefest of moments. "Well…"

…

"The four pilots from before can fly again, right? So why do I have to keep piloting that thing?" Kira demanded.

Mu sighed. "We're up against a ZAFT ship with a full complement of Ginns; Moebius crafts have never done well against those things. Your Strike is the only—"

"It's not mine." Kira said.

"I know." Mu corrected himself. "The Strike is our only shot at getting out of here alive."

Kira fumed on the inside. He wasn't a soldier, why were they making him fight?

Mu read the look on his face. "I know what you're thinking, but if this ship goes down your friends would die too; it's not like they'll be left alone even if we could get them to an escape pod on time."

…

"Heat signatures confirmed!" The weapons officer said, staring at the readouts. "Enemy ship confirmed to be a Nascza class destroyer. Enemy will be within probable weapons range in twenty minutes."

"We can't outrun it, I see." Murrue sighed; the damage taken from the sabotage meant two of the Archangel's engines were offline. "Alert all pilots. If we can damage it enough we can get out of here just fine."

…

"Wait, that's her plan?!" Cipher was incredulous.

"Yep. Lady's got balls, that's for sure." Blaze laughed.

They had just been briefed that Murrue battle plan was essentially "ignore everyone and hit the enemy ship's engines".

"Shouldn't be too hard; ZAFT's got shit gunners." Ribbon mused.

All four of them were changing into pilot suits in a hurry, before hearing Natarle's voice on speakers.

"All crew, brace! We're taking fire!"

Immediately they felt the ship shake.

"Let's hurry." Blaze motioned to the others, and hurried by Kira as he came in to change.

…

"We took a hit; missile impact to port side, light damage." Natarle said. "Weapons, what are you doing!?"

"Roger!" The weapons officer gritted his teeth; the Igelstellung CIWS were not designed to target behind the ship, and the lighter Helldart missile launchers were still non operational. Poor man has his work cut out for him.

"Is the enemy ship launching units?" Murrue looked at the screen display of the enemy ship.

"Additional heat signatures detected, probable launch of combat units; estimated time of arrival, fifteen minutes." The Search and Detections officer said.

"Just great. Launch all we have. We need to stop the enemy ship!"

….

"Blaze! We got the launch order!" Murdoch said, as the Four Aces arrived to their respective Moebius crafts.

"Roger that. Razgriz, let's rock and roll." Blaze entered his Moebius craft, refitted with a pair of wings outfitted with missiles mounted on external pylons. A picture of a man in a black winged helmet was on his ship's body.

"About time." Cipher grinned like a feral beast. His Moebius was upgraded with a second linear gun, both mounted on the legs of the craft. Where the gun used to be was replaced by a large anti-ship missile. A picture of a bright red dog chewing on its chain emblazoned his craft.

"Roger that." Talisman's craft was emblazoned with a bird emblem, and mounted wings with external pylons with additional missiles, as well as an anti-ship missile.

"Copy." Mobius one showed no emotion, his craft carried both the wings and missile-armed pylons along with an additional Linear gun. His craft carried his symbol, the Mobius strip, on its body.

All of them were also armed with a grapple hook and wire.

…

"Razgriz squadron," Natarle said over the communications, still having some trouble with getting the pronunciation right, "you are to engage the enemy ship, ignore the rest of the enemy units."

Blaze laughed. "Not happening, girly."

Cipher cut her off before she could interject. "If we're up against Mobile suits we can't leave 'em alone. They want to sink our ship, and they hit harder than we do."

Natarle fumed for a moment; having orders blatantly ignored wasn't normal for her.

"Razgriz, you're cleared to launch." She said a moment later.

"Aye aye. Razgriz, let's do this!"

…

"Looks like they have Moebius crafts, though they look different from mass production models." The search and detections officer on the Nasca-class ship said, and the Moebius crafts were brought into view.

The captain looked at the insignias for a brief moment, and then promptly sighed in despair as he saw the status of those crafts in question. "Looks like they rigged a piece of garbage to float; this is what we're fighting against?"

"All mobile suits, you're cleared to launch." The Combat Information Officer said.

"Roger that, Cruset team, deploy!"

…

"Whoa, whoa, what?" Blaze looked at his display. "Is this a joke?"

"They're deploying the stolen G-Weapons? Damn them." Murrue said under her breath. "All pilots, capture the stolen G-weapons if you can."

"That's a joke, right?" Talisman said with a slightly shaky laugh.

"Shit…alright, Razgriz!"

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

"We're taking down the Ginns; launch your Anti-Ships at the enemy carrier if you can. They can't fight if they're out of energy. Copy?" Three affirmatives came in reply.

"Enemy units are within range; Razgriz squadron, take them down." Natarle said as missiles exploded over the ship.

"Roger that. Wardog one, engaging."

"Galm one, engage."

"Garuda one, engaging."

He took a deep breath. "Mobius one, engage."

…

"Why do they have different callsigns?" Mu wondered.


	2. Stage 2 - The Wings Maim People

"Enemy units sighted, there's four Moebius crafts." Yzak, the pilot of the Duel gundam, said, then scoffed. "They're armed with pieces of trash."

Dearka laughed. "Well, then it'll be a cinch." His Blitz Gundam brought its large rifle to bear as he sighted one of the crafts, and noted, almost absentmindedly, the insignia of a dog biting on its chain.

Athrun saw insignias on the Moebius crafts, but didn't seem them clearly. "They have custom insignias. Are they aces?"

Yzak's shrug could be heard over the radio as the Duel raised its rifle. "Doesn't matter, they're flying trash. Kill them all!"

…

"Razgriz, let's run some interception!" Blaze said as he brought his craft into a spin.

"Whoa! What the hell!" Yzak saw the Moebius craft in front of him suddenly spin and took aim at the fighter.

He then blinked in surprise as his craft shuddered for some reason. The light beeping his console gave off reported that the Phase Shift Armor was only slightly disturbed.

"Enemy hit, I don't think it did anything." Blaze snarled as he sped past the Duel Gundam, outspeeding the enemy's Vulcan fire response.

"Coming." Cipher said, bringing his twin linear guns to bear on the Duel, which happened to be turned around, trying to catch Blaze.

"Yzak! Behind you!" Yzak heard over the radio and swerved to look behind him out of instinct, despite training telling him not to because you can't see that far back without using cameras. He then felt a much stronger shudder as Cipher's shots hit him square in the back.

"I got a hit, doesn't look like it did a thing."

"The stolen suits have Phase Shift armor; bullets aren't going to work against them." Natarle said.

There was a moment of silence as the four aces processed that information.

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier?!" Talisman demanded, before dodging incoming fire from an enemy GINN. Natarle was too busy giving out orders to the ship gunners to reply.

"Razgriz Two and Three, intercept the stolen units; Four, we're taking down the GINNs." Blaze said.

"Two."

"Four, roger."

"Three, conserving missiles." Mobius One said while rolling heavily to dodge bullet fire from a GINN and fired back with the built-in Vulcans.

…

"My god, what are these guys." Athrun muttered after firing quite a few shots that he thought would hit only to have the fighters dodge them at the last moment. He then felt his craft shake again as he received yet another hit to the back from the yet another Moebius craft. _Every single time, always to my back! _He thought with a grimace, not bothering to turn around, since the one behind him would be long gone by then.

He watched the Moebius he fired at roll heavily to dodge a burst of fire from a GINN.

Said GINN paused in his fire and was immediately hit in the main camera on its face, seconds before Athrun brought up his rifle for another shot.

"I don't believe this! We're being outmaneuvered by goddamned Moebius crafts?!" Dearka said, after watching one of his missile salvos be thrown off by an impossibly sharp evasive maneuver.

"Nevermind them; all units, focus fire on the legged ship." Rau Le Cruset said over the communications, and heard three affirmatives in reply.

Yzak, ever the hothead, ignored the order and continued to pursue the two Moebius crafts, being dragged slightly further and further from the ship attacking force.

"Yzak, you're too far from us, return." Rau's order fell on deaf ears.

…

"Our magic's wearing off." Cipher said lightly, barely dodging a wildly aimed shot from the Duel. "But it looks like someone's got wool in their eyes."

"Then let's finish this one off quick." Mobius one said with a slightly predatory snarl in his voice.

…

...

"Wait, what are they doing?" Dearka said, having taken some pot shots at the Moebius crafts while attacking the Archangel, with limited success.

"I don't care. They're dead!" Yzak roared with fury. The two Moebius crafts around him have been pelting him almost incessantly with Vulcan fire, doing no damage, but shredding the hell out of his pride.

"Yzak, don't lose your cool." Athrun warned.

"Shut up!" Yzak's response was paired with some beam rifle fire aimed wildly at the Moebius crafts flitting around. He then raised his engines and tried to charge the Moebius units, namely, the one with the ribbon painted on it.

"Three here, commencing retrieval; requesting support." Mobius one said, and deployed his grapple towards the incoming Duel Gundam.

"Two." Cipher said, trying to maneuver to a position beneath the Duel.

Yzak heard an odd sound and ignored it. He raised his rifle at the oddly built Moebius craft, and blinked in surprise as the unit nosed above him and disappeared out of sight.

Yzak then heard his unit's autopilot blare a warning that it was trying to keep its position against some outside force attempting to drag it.

Then he heard a missile alert and promptly ignored it because Phase Shift Armor.

Mobius one catapulted himself to a spot behind the duel and had fired a missile at the Duel's engines; although the unit is protected against damage against physical impact, the armor doesn't protect against the force of the impact, and Yzak found himself thrown against the harness that bound him to his seat.

"Damn! Yzak's in trouble!" Athrun yelled, turning around and leaving the Archangel alone. "We're going to help him!"

Rau Le Cruset barely resisted shaking his head. "Go help your friend. GINN squadrons, continue the attack."

"Got it. Take this, you damned Naturals!" Dearka roared, firing his Gundam's large rifle in the Duel's general direction. He had pride and confidence in his marksmanship and was sure he wasn't going to hit the Duel.

Unfortunately for him, the two Moebius crafts he was shooting at knew it.

"Ignore him. He can't aim for us." Mobius one said, kicking half of engines into gear while keeping his grapple length constant, and depressed his gun triggers. His Moebius craft flew in a circle around the Duel, peppering it constantly with vulcan and Linear gun fire. The Duel, on the other hand, was held in position by the constantly thickening layer of grapple wire and could do nothing but take the damage.

Cipher shook his head, and turned his attention to the red unit that was charging forward with its beam saber out.

Athrun heard a voice over the communication line, and silently cursed himself: They haven't changed the communications channel encryption in the units, so the Naturals knew what they were saying!

Which was halfway true: Cipher had no idea what they were saying but was using a general line anyways, and indeed the ZAFT ship engineers hadn't changed the stolen unit encryptions yet.

"Kid, you're in way over your head." Athrun heard as he brought his sword in for a sideways slash.

Cipher's Moebius craft had long since rolled out of the way and had dropped the Anti-ship missile in his stead. Athrun narrowly avoided hitting the missile with the beam saber, but Cipher turned around hard and strafed the missile with his Vulcans before rocketing off, causing the missile to explode in Athrun's Gundam Face.

Athrun's suit instantly blared an alarm. He spared a moment to look at his readout and cursed yet again; the explosion damaged the saber mount on the arm, rendering the blade useless until it could be repaired.

Cipher, on the other hand, cursed as well; he hadn't anticipated the Phase Shift Armor to absorb so much damage from a missile designed to kill capital ships. However, before he could follow up his attack, his threat alarm blared and he twisted hard out of the way of a solid something that occupied his space before. He looked back and saw a heat signature appear behind him, before catching the glowing eyes of a mobile suit.

"Athrun! Are you alright?" Nicole, pilot of the jet black Blitz, said, before he instinctively raised his shield-mounted arm in response to a pepper of Vulcan fire. Said Vulcan fire hit the Blitz square on the head, though it didn't do any damage.

"I'm fine, Nicol. Thanks for the help." Athrun said a little shakily. _These pilots are naturals?! How can they move like that?! _His mind was reeling.

…

"Looks like the two heroes are doing just fine." Garuda one remarked, dodging another shot from a very angry GINN.

"What'd you expect? They're the Ace of Aces." Blaze laughed, suddenly jinking sideways away from a downwards sword slash from a GINN that's getting too close, and responded by shooting out its main head camera with his Vulcans.

"I wish these guys were a bit better." Talisman sighed as he put his craft into a sudden reverse, dodging a swipe from the same GINN that's getting a bit desperate. Said GINN received a missile to the face for his troubles.

"Shit, we can't possibly be losing to goddamned Naturals!" The captain of the GINN squadron snarled.

Blaze opened a general communications channel, laughing all the while. "Man, you're in for some horrible, horrible luck." And then he came across a good idea.

The GINN squadron couldn't help but stop for a brief moment to watch the Moebius craft flying high above the battlefield twist downwards to face their captain, while their captain raised his gun to meet the tiny, tiny fighter. "Luck? You think luck's enough to save you, you Natural bastard?!"

Blaze's chuckle suddenly drew a shiver from everyone listening in (which was, in effect, all the GINN pilots).

"We are the Razgriz, the demons of the north."

The captain of the GINN squadron fired his recoilless rifle, but it was no use: Blaze dove straight down while firing all of his guns.

…

The captain of the ZAFT vessel was furious. Four Moebius crafts—_four!_—were making a mockery of the ZAFT army.

"Olor's unit has gone silent!" He heard one of the crewmen report, and his rage built even more.

…

Rau Le Cruset looked on with a mixture of amusement and frustration, as he dodged another round of fire from the enemy capital ship.

Even through all that, he couldn't help but wonder: where was La Flaga?

…

Mu La Flaga couldn't help but whistle at the otherworldly skill exhibited by these pilots as he crept up slowly upon the enemy ship.

As his computer beeped on his arrival for the target location, Mu La Flaga, the Hawk of Endymion, took a deep breath, and charged towards the ZAFT ship.

…

The Archangel crew was busy trying to not die to Cruset and his GINN compatriots and their renewed attacks on the ship. To the ship's credit the armor is holding quite well.

"The Moebius Zero has begun it's attack, Captain." Natarle said, watching a light on her screen go green.

"Good, just hold out a little longer!"

…

Kira Yamato felt the ship shake yet again, and made up his mind.

…

"Incoming fire!" One of the ZAFT crew suddenly shouted, and the ship shook.

"Damage to the main engines! We can't maintain acceleration!" Another officer shouted.

The captain of the ship gritted his teeth. "Where the hell did that come from!?"

He then saw the orange paintjob of the Moebius Zero fly in front of the ship.

"The Hawk of Endymion." The captain gritted his teeth harder. Somewhere back on PLANT a dentist felt the tug of potential money in his wallet.

"Here's a farewell present." Mu laughed, set two of his Gunbarrels to fire while holding position, oriented them towards the ship's main cannons, and detached them, before turning and flying back to the Archangel.

As the ZAFT ship's main cannon barrels exploded from the Gunbarrel fire, the ship captain couldn't help but utter a string of expletives, though most of them were just repetitions of the same word.

…

Yzak was in all kinds of hell.

He heard his name being yelled over the communicators, but he was too focused on trying to keep his bearing straight to heed.

A little while ago he heard a second *clang* very similar to the first, and rightfully assumed that the second Moebius craft had attached a grapple onto him as well. He then tried to accelerate his way out of this mess, but every time he did the Moebius crafts would drag him in a direction totally perpendicular to the one he was going. The end effect was his Duel Gundam spent a lot of its power rotating uselessly in space, firing its Vulcans everywhere while its arm with the beam rifle was pinned uselessly to its side, still firing.

What he hasn't realized in his mind clouded with confusion and high octane rage was that his random firing was both drastically draining his unit of its energy and preventing his allies from assisting him. He was also too enraged to hear unit's many warnings, but at this point there are so many warnings if he had heard any of them it wasn't going to be of much help.

"God dammit Yzak!" Dearka shouted. "Get a grip!"

Of course, Yzak didn't hear him.

"This is sad." Mobius One said, watching the Duel gundam flail about, firing wildly.

"So sad." Cipher agreed, being forced to use his thrusters once or twice when a shot came slightly too close.

Both pilots continued to fly circles around the Duel and pump it full of Vulcan fire as it fired back and stopped its allies from helping it.

…

Suddenly, the battlefield was bathed in white light as the ZAFT ship fired three white lights, signaling retreat.

"What? What's going on?!" Le Cruset demanded.

"Our ship's taken damage to the engines, if we don't stop the pursuit we could get outside of our operational range." The captain explained, after finally calming down.

Cruset chuckled darkly. "Affirmative." He then opened a communications link to all ZAFT units on the field. "All units, we're retreating. Recover the Duel by any means necessary!" _What a disaster. _He couldn't help but think to himself.

...

"Shit, looks like they're coming after us." Cipher muttered. "Three, got any tricks up your sleeve?"

"I'm all out, Two." Mobius One sighed.

Cipher sighed as well; this was prime money sitting in front of him, and he has to abandon it. He then reminded himself that he wasn't technically a mercenary any more.

"Archangel, got anything to send us? I don't want to give up our prize."

Murrue looked confused for a second. "What prize? Wait, the Strike has deployed with the Launcher pack, maybe he can help."

Mobius One and Cipher were a little worried now: their Moebius crafts were running out of power.

"Razgriz, we're towing back a gift. Kira, can you read me?" Blaze said, deploying his grapple along with Talisman onto the Duel.

"I, uh, read you." Kira said, a little surprised. "Sir." He added at the end. After all, he was a young man who has read military fiction.

"Give us some cover while we tow this thing home." Blaze said, as all four Razgriz crafts deployed their grapples for the towing work.

…

Dearka gritted his teeth as he sighted the Moebius crafts yet again, ignoring the state of his unit's energy: this was his best friend, about to be dragged off into the Natural ship like a piece of trash!

The sudden alert of incoming fire broke his concentration as he dodged out of the way of some incoming fire, courtesy of the Strike's AGNI cannon.

"What the hell...the last unit sorties now?!" He said in dumbfound shock.

"We'll assist; fire missiles behind us!" Natarle said suddenly.

The weapons control officer nodded with a grin, and fired as many missiles as he could behind them between the Razgriz and the remainder of the ZAFT units.

…

Yzak, meanwhile, had raged so hard he fell into a state of almost catatonic shock when he felt the two other grapples hit his unit; having ran out of energy earlier and fired the last of his Vulcan ammo, he couldn't do anything but feel his unit be dragged and watched as the Vesalius flew further and further away.

…

"We can't get any closer than this!" Nicol said, trying and failing to get a good firing position on the Moebius crafts; the crafts in question were dodging and maneuvering almost in tantem with each other, dragging the Duel Gundam along as if it was a giant ragdoll, while the ZAFT Gundam pilots maneuvered wildly to dodge the endless barrage of missiles from both the Archangel and the Strike.

…

"C'mon, leave...!" Kira muttered, sighting a GINN and pulling the trigger for his AGNI cannon.

...

Rau Le Cruset gritted his teeth as he watched a GINN evaporate from the attacks of the Strike Gundam. "Damn. We're out of time; all units, retreat!"

Dearka swore loudly (enough for everyone to hear him) and aimed at the Archangel, and fired the last of his missiles. He then looked on in shock as the missiles were shot down by Vulcan fire from the four Moebius crafts. "Damn it!"

…

"Those guys are insanely good." Mu said, having made his way back to the Archangel only a few minutes earlier.

…

…

Docking was a simple procedure; the fighters just had to match speed with the Archangel, gently nudge themselves into position, and slow down a little bit until they met the gravity locks. The Duel was dragged into position and forcibly slowed down until it was caught with netting.

A silver-haired boy was then escorted out of the unit at gunpoint and thrown into a makeshift prison aboard the ship, which was just a room with the door locked (the brig was reserved as a storage depot for the moment).

…

"Wow, I still can't believe they managed to recapture one of the stolen Gs." Murrue breathed, after the radar cleared them of all threats.

Natarle could only shake her head as she smiled.

…

"Between the four of you, the stolen Duel was retaken, and five GINNs were taken out of commission." Mu said, astonished. "Nevermind the GINNs, retaking that Duel was insane! Did you guys have the grapples installed just for that?"

Mobius One, Ribbon, was inspecting his craft. "The pilot was too easily enraged, and no, it was a spur of a moment thing."

Mu chuckled. "Spur of the moment. Like shooting down those missiles?"

Ribbon shrugged. "Give your thanks to the mechanics for that one; the gun's auto-tracking is excellent."

"Oh really? I don't think auto-tracking was all it was; well, if you don't mind, Mr. Ribbon, care to teach me a few things?"

Ribbon paused. "I don't think I could teach the Hawk of Endymion anything useful about zero-g combat; we got lucky, that was all."

Mu clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't be like that, a few rounds will do."

"Well…if you insist."

…

"Yo, Yamato." Cipher said, getting the young man's attention.

"Yes, uh, sir?" Kira snapped out of the daze he was in.

"Thanks for the covering fire back there; the blue one wouldn't have been recovered without your help." Cipher laughed.

Kira made a noncommittal gesture. "You were done fighting at that point; it wasn't like I contributed a lot anyways."

Cipher shook his head. "See, that's where you're wrong. We cover for each other, and we share our kills, so to speak." He saw Kira flinch at the word 'kill'. "Thus, we're all equally responsible for the survival of each other."

Kira sighed. "I don't want to fight, especially not when I'm forced to…do this."

Cipher sensed a last minute word swap, but figured it would be better to let the issue drop. "Nobody wants to fight, kid; after all, the people in those Ginns we fought had friends, families, and loved ones at home probably hoping they're alright." The fact that some of those people were definitely not alright was left unsaid but could be heard as loud as a thunderclap.

Kira stared at him. "If you know that, then why do you fight them?" He thought again to the unit he had sighted and killed.

Cipher shrugged. "Simple, really; because they chose to step onto the field of battle; they chose be here, fighting for their beliefs, their reasons; who am I to deny their courage?" He added, almost absentmindedly. "Just like the Round Table."

"But still—"

"I know. You're in an extenuating circumstance that you don't want to be in. But look around you for a moment." Cipher made a sweeping motion with his left hand. "Everyone on this ship has people worried about them too."

Kira said nothing.

"Well, it's not like you have to kill your enemies." Cipher added, "From what I've heard you're pretty talented, and you have a top of the line machine on your hands."

"What's your point?" Kira felt a slight irritation.

"My point is: You're good enough to force the enemy to withdraw; better than what we can do, which is to barely damage the enemy enough so that they withdraw. If you can fight to protect others, do it. If you can fight to protect everyone, even the people you're fighting against, then by god why are you not fighting?"

"I'll…uh, keep that in mind." Kira said, getting a bit confused.

"In the end, man, it's your decision." Cipher said, clapped the young man on the shoulder, and left to do who knows what.

…

…

"Hey, what's up?" Blaze asked a rather tired looking Ribbon as the latter walked into the officer lounger, obviously exhausted.

"Mu La Flaga is good. Damn good." Was the tired reply.

"Oh really. The Hawk of Endymion is good at his job?" Blaze said with a smirk, looking back into his drink. "Would've never guessed."

"No, seriously. All the man needs is some competent wingmen to let him fly without worries, and he's going to do miracles." Ribbon sat down, taking the drink Blaze casually tossed at him. Or pushed, since this is zero G.

"What, are we gonna fly support for him next?"

"Not likely; it'll be good if we can get some pilots at Artemis, though." Ribbon said between gulps of his drink.

Blaze's eyes clouded over for a moment. "Speaking of Artemis…"

…

Mu La Flaga came out of the simulator, aching all over, as a bemused Murdoch passes him a towel.

"What is that man made of?" Mu demanded.

"Was he really that good, Lieutenant?" Murdoch, a (secret) fan of the "Hawk of Endymion", asked, barely covering a grin: Despite his loyalties, he did just win a good penny in a bet.

"Good? Good?!" Mu was indignant. "He flew circles around me in every match! I've never seen half the things he could do with a Moebius and the man's only spent a few months in zero-g?!" He calmed down for a moment, though he was more incredulous than angry. "If all four of them are as skilled as Ribbon we have the war in the bag. Why did the idiots at high command shove them off to Heliopolis anyways?! They should be instructors for the new kids!"

Murdoch stroked his stubbly chin. "Well, going by how the four treat each other, I think the oldest guy, what's his name, Cipher, is the most skillful one. Fancy taking him on?"

Mu leaned against the simulator, burying his head in the towel, to hide the massive grin on his face. "I don't think I can take another hit to my pride like that."

"Those can't be their real names, though." Murdock mused.

"Good. Let me believe they're some god of the fighters from the future." Mu grumbled.

…

"What was with the young man they pulled out of the Duel?" Talisman asked, having wandered onto the bridge at some point.

"What do you mean?" Murrue asked.

"He seemed…different?" Talisman cast around for some good descriptions. "It was like…" He didn't succeed.

"Well, for starters." He tried again. "What's with the pride he had?"

Natarle came onto the bridge at that moment. "Captain, I suggest you get some rest…oh, it's you."

Talisman was uncomfortable around the lady that Cipher had such interesting descriptions for. "Yes, it's me." He felt the bridge's temperature drop heavily.

Murrue chuckled. "It's alright, Natarle; the young man was probably prideful because of his red uniform."

_Click. _"Ah, so he was an elite pilot then?" Talisman felt his respect for the young man rise, and respect for ZAFT as a whole plummet.

Murrue nods. "You got it."

"So is the age of service sixteen for ZAFT? How long do they train their kids for, anyways?"

Murrue frowned slightly. "Well…"

"They are coordinators; they require less time to learn a new skill to a competent level than us normal humans." Natarle interjected, getting progressively angrier at Talisman's blatant disregard for the chain of command, but not saying anything since Murrue wouldn't care one way or the other.

"Talent, or whatever the hell it is they have, is no reason to use children as pilots." The glance Talisman, Gracemeria's Angel of Death, shot at Natarle could have frozen oceans. But since the lights were dim and she wasn't looking at him she missed it, though she still felt a serious chill up her spine.

"Well, we have unusual circumstances. If only Mr. Yamato would rewrite the OS for common usage, then he wouldn't be in a position to fight." Natarle shrugged, a slight wobble in her voice betraying the slight break of composure.

Talisman thought for a moment, then…

"Is the difference between a Coordinator and a Natural that large? Enough that a sixteen year old can make something not even a team of adults can understand?"

"It isn't that simple." One of Kira's friends said, the young man with the glasses. "Apologies for eavesdropping, but…"

"To put it simply," Natarle said, as if the interruption didn't happen. "Our engineers are running overtime trying to bring the Archangel and your crafts up into full combat mode again—"

At this point everyone on the bridge (and out of it) remembered how the four Moebius crafts' bolted on engines caused warnings to blare in the hangar, to the point where said hangar needed to be locked down for a few minutes and the crew evacuated while the engines stopped trying to melt everything down around it. The problem was eventually pinpointed to a faulty release mechanism for the heat radiators, but it was a few dangerous moments for the hangar crew. On the plus side, the entire ship's temperature went up from "uncomfortably cold" to "acceptably cold".

"—and thus they don't have the spare time to decode the Strike. And stop burning out your engines." Natarle added almost sulkily.

"We'll try, but no promises."

…

…

Yzak lied back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He had exhausted all of his rage a few hours ago, and has now settled for playing back the battle in his head, examining it from every detail possible. Every time he reviewed himself losing his composure he would seethe inwardly. Him! A ZAFT Red! Would make such an amateur mistake!

…

"He's been beating up the wall for a while now, is he alright?" One of the guards said after Yzak struck the wall in frustration for the umpteenth time.

The other guard on watch shrugged and downed a shot from a glass floating near them against the wall, silently thanking the fact that the Archangel had no booze.

…

…

…

"Sir, we should continue to give chase to the Archangel." Dearka said to Rau Le Cruset in Rau's quarters aboard the ZAFT cruiser. The hiss in his voice was palpable. Rau put on a new mask and turned to face Dearka.

"Dearka. I know you're worried about your friend, but we're currently in no condition to give chase." Rau said for what he felt was the fifth time. The almost constant loss of their "aces" –Rusty during the infiltration operation, Yzak when his Duel was caught, and Olog, one of the ship's senior pilots —and the presence of those "demonic" Moebius crafts (made of, as far as he could tell, junk) had driven ship morale to a near total depression. The ship captain had advised Rau to continue the chase - scrapped engines be damned - to raise morale , until he was reminded of the scrapped guns as well.

Rau had left the captain sobbing into his drink in the cafeteria; the man was very attached to his ship, after all.

However, Rau Le Cruset wasn't about to give up entirely; prior to the attack they had confirmed that the Archangel was on course to Artemis (rather, it was the only viable location the ship can run to, factoring in the ship's expected supply and manpower) and should the ship continue to give chase with its current capable acceleration, the Archangel would reach the station long before they did.

And if they gave chase at constant maximum acceleration, then the Artemis's gunner crew would have a enjoyable day watching the Vesalius plow into the station's Umbrella of Light.

For those reasons, Rau Le Cruset ordered the ship to retreat to PLANT, and for an emergency message to be sent for the deployment of a new pursuit force, along with mobile suits equipped with cameras.

He wasn't about to let the damned Naturals out-fly ZAFT's boys, after all, even if they had to resort to theft.

…

Dearka was hardly at ease, even after listening to that explanation. They were humiliated! As the ranking officer who would bear the blame Rau Le Cruset should know that, above all else!

"Dearka." Rau sighed. The boy was taking after Yzak; he could only hope the ship's best sniper calms down after a few days. "I am fully aware of what sort of responsibilities I shoulder. That is why, even though it is shameful, even though it places one of our own men in danger, we must withdraw. Yzak would not want us to lose an entire ship to retrieve him; the blow to his pride would be far from inconsequential."

Dearka shut up, and nodded after a moment. He then saluted, turned around, and left. Rau could only hope he wasn't about to do something insane.

…

Dearka felt the need to do something insane, like fly after the Archangel by himself. Until he talked himself out of it like a sane person.

A small part of him bemusedly noted how his constant friendship to Yzak and anticipating the boy's penchant for anger was the cause of Yzak being abandoned (if only for the moment) to the Naturals.

...

"I have to admit I don't like Yzak all that much." Athrun said, scowling. "But leaving him to the Naturals is practically a death sentence."

"It can't be helped for the moment." Nicole sighed, his eyes a bit redder than normal. "We need to think about the overall structure of this war, too."

Athrun chuckled sadly. "Structure, right; how many men do you think Yzak's mother would mobilize to get him back?" Yzak's mother, Ezalia Jule, was a member of the PLANT council—Athrun didn't know what her position was—and was quite worried about him, a fact that Yzak faced a small amount of teasing for back in school.

Dearka walked in with a drink, visibly calmer than he was when he stormed out a few moments ago. "Knowing her? Three ships, at least."

…

"Not only did the Naturals develop new weapons, they also had the audacity to create these…monsters?" A man in his office hissed while reading a report sent to him from Rau Le Cruset, concerning their stolen weapons and a recommended plan of action.

After he finished reading the report, he paused for a few moments to plan out his next actions, and then made some calls.

"I want you to take a look at this." He said, and waited for a few minutes while the man on the line read the snippet he sent under his breath.

"Holy shit, Patrick."

Patrick Zala laughed, in the bitter and cold way that he seemed to do nowadays. "Think you can spin this? I don't think Naturals can achieve these things by just raw skill, do you?"

A pause, then…

"Yeah, I don't think so either. A story about how the Naturals are sending young trainees through hellishly tough training should be good for our war efforts."

"Throw some shit about them forcing drugs on their pilots too."

"You got it boss."

Patrick hung up, and then dialed another number, and then checked his tone, just in case.

"Ezalia, we might have an issue on our hands." Ezalia Jule was against the idea of sending a ship to Heliopolis, even for supposed "peaceful" purposes, so she was, despite being one of his supporters, currently a little bit unhappy with him.

On the other hand, she hated using neutral places as a means of war.

"What is it, Pat? I'm a little busy here."

"One of our scout ships have discovered the" Patrick Zala checked himself at the last second "Earth Federation Army has used Heliopolis as a weapon development center."

He could almost feel the fury on the other side of the line. Who it was targeted towards, he prayed that it was not him. _Might as well do some fence mending now. _He thought.

"Cruset found them out," He added, before the lady on the line could properly vent her fury, "and he decided to engage. During the battle, apparently Yzak was captured after he had obtained one of the developed units."

Ok, NOW the fury could be clearly felt over the line, even though Ezalia was totally silent. _I might have screwed myself over. _Patrick thought bemusedly.

"I know, I know; regardless of what happened before we obviously can't leave a man behind, no matter where he is, and we can't exactly let—"

"How many ships can I send, Patrick." Upon hearing her deathly calm voice, Patrick Zala reminded of the instances where he did something his wife strongly disapproved of. And it terrified him.

"If we can spin this right, we can probably send three, but—"

"Send me everything you have, Patrick."

He did as he was told, and waited for a minute or so.

"I'll get us five ships." She said, and hung up.

Patrick let out a breath.

...

And a smile played on his face.

…

…

[Time: Some days later]

…

…

"Dearka, are you going to transfer?" Athrun asked, packing up his things.

"Damn straight I am. I'm not going to leave Yzak on that Natural ship any longer." Dearka's reply was punctured by him nearly beating his belongings into his box.

"That makes all of us then." Nicole smiled. For a brief moment earlier during the day Athrun had tried to talk the fragile-looking boy into taking a position away from the front lines, but Nicole had adamantly insisted that they were Yzak's friends. And friends don't abandon each other.

They had received word earlier that the council of PLANT had decided (far from unanimously) to send five ships and full complements of GINNs to chase after the "legged ship". (Ezalia got her approval when she revealed that the ships used for the operation would be stragglers that were slow to retrofit and couldn't make a rendezvous with their 17th fleet in time)

In technicality, they were a fleet to do "surveillance and patrol" around the Artemis station region.

In reality, each one of the ships was equipped with a new piece of equipped the technicians dubbed the "cold gun", developed for the sole purpose of taking down the Artemis station.

And all of them knew it was because Yzak's mother pulled strings, and everyone knew that Yzak's mother was fiercely protective and very resourceful when it mattered the most.

And now that legged ship will be facing down five ZAFT cruisers, and all the GINNs attached (some armed with cameras and told to focus on some Moebius crafts if they show up, to those pilots' eternal confusion).

…

Unfortunately for ZAFT said legged ship was already within hailing distance of the Artemis space station.

"This is the Earth Federation Assault Battleship Archangel, Artemis station, do you copy?" The communcations officer said (who happens to be Natarle today).

"This is Artemis station, I'm afraid we do not recognize your IFF, please stand by."

"Archangel, copy." Natarle said. Murrue, having heard the whole thing as it wasn't on a private line, ordered the ship to come to a standstill; as it had been decelerating the whole time it wasn't overly difficult.

"Nice to know they're still taking their protocols seriously." Natarle said with a note of approval in her voice; apparently the rumors of Artemis becoming lax were unfounded.

"Indeed, although I wish it wasn't held by Eurasia." Murrue said after stretching; the rivalry between Eurasia and the Atlantic branches got quite ugly sometimes.

The bridge crew watched as the Moebius crafts from the base came up around the ship, and moments later heard the ship's electronic warfare sensors beep as the scanners from the fighters went to work.

…

"Archangel, you're cleared to dock." They heard a good fifteen minutes later.

"They're being a little too cautious, don't you think?" Mu La Flaga wondered aloud, having arrived on the bridge some minutes back to see what the delay was. "It's not like they don't have physical cameras."

Natarle scowled a little. "Lieutenant, a little extra caution has never hurt anyone."

Mu held up his hands in mock surrender. "I know, I know."

"Docking complete. Archangel, welcome to Artemis."

.

.

.

Author Notes:

Woo, I did things!

So, for those of you who are familiar with what's going on—

Flay isn't on board yet because I forgot she showed up ER I MEAN

Kira didn't sortie for the "leave-the-colony" battle, thus he didn't get to pick her up. She'll show up later tho'.

The Archangel has more technology because c'mon, state of the art space ship. (Granted the expectations for what state of the art means in 2014 is a lot different than 2000).

I figured there would be more behind the shadows play with politicians, so... yeah. That's a thing.


	3. Stage 3 - Umbrella of Artemis

"So what was that about Artemis you were worried about, Blaze?" Cipher asked while leaving the Archangel; they had gotten some time off while the ship was being resupplied and repaired, about a week's worth.

"This station gives me the same feeling as back then." Blaze said, careful to drop his tone in case they were being overheard; _got in trouble for it once, might as well not do it again_, he figured.

Cipher didn't need to ask what he meant. "It's probably just because of their defensive system." Artemis was famous for its impregnable status, owing to its Umbrella of Light defensive shield system.

Blaze mulled it over for a moment. "Yeah, that's probably it."

…

…

"Ah, you must be the ship's captain." Gerard Garcia, the station's commander in chief, greeted Murrue Ramius once she was off the ship.

"Acting captain, sir." Murrue said, taking his offered handshake. "Our maiden voyage was far from smooth."

He chuckled, and then sighed. "Had the Atlantic Federation made us aware of the situation we would have been able to offer some measure of support to the secret project. Please accept my condolences for the losses of your comrades." Garcia bowed slightly.

"Ah, uh, thank you for those thoughts, and for accepting the Archangel's request to resupply."

Garcia laughed. "But of course! Even though we're a tad jealous of the folks in the Atlantic, we're still humans, after all."

_I guess that means Coordinators are out of the question. _Mu La Flaga mused to himself, before he received Garcia's attention.

"And here we have the famed Hawk of Endymion! It's an honor, Lieutenant La Flaga." Garcia gave an overly exaggerated salute, somewhat unbefitting of his status. "Just between us, I'm a huge fan of yours."

Mu scratched the back of his head. "You're giving me too much credit, sir."

Garcia laughed again. "Please, Gerard is fine; you're an inspiration to everyone here, no need to be so stiff."

Natarle scowled slightly: the man's lack of attention to protocol was getting on her nerves. But he was a commanding officer that outranked her severely, so she held her tongue.

Garcia paid her almost no attention on the path to his office.

…

"Alright, so the Archangel needs to get to Alaska, the sooner the better." Garcia summed up the results of Murrue's debriefing. She nodded affirmative.

"After she's done resupplying, we can have the Archangel fold into the 8th fleet until drop position to Alaska. Would that work?" Garcia said, looking at a holographic globe with several lines draw across it.

"Yes, sir. It would also be extremely advantageous if we were to receive additional crew, as well." Natarle finally said.

Garcia didn't bother to look at her. "Well, all of our non-reserve ships were sent to bolster the 8th fleet's numbers, and our reserve ships were scouring the Heliopolis wreckage for survivors; the first ships are back, by the way. But regardless we're not in a position to spare any crew for the ship. We do have pilots, however."

"More pilots would be extremely helpful; the current ones we have are not very good at keeping their crafts together." Natarle said, adding the last bit as almost an undertone.

"Oh really? What's wrong with them?" Garcia said, finally looking at her.

"Well…"

…

"Man, the Artemis's almost a home away from home." Talisman said while looking around the oddly very not-military looking bunch of shops and stores lined up in front of him.

"It's good, isn't it? At least we'll be able to rest for a while." Miriallia said; the girl with the curly brown hair had invited him along with Kira and the rest of their friends for their down time on the station.

Actually, her original goal was to get all of the Strangereal Aces, but Blaze and Cipher left early and Ribbon was talking to the mechanics, so Talisman was the only one who was free to go.

Also fittingly Talisman was the youngest of the group, so he fit in a little better than the others.

"Where did you learn to pilot like that, Talisman?" Kira asked.

"A few months of flying in space, trying not to die; it's amazing what the EFA won't do if they think you're not a Natural, but at least they paid for our food."

"That's horrible." Kuzzey, one of the less noticeable members of the group, said.

"That's war." Sai sighed.

"Um, once we get back to the Archangel, I'd like you to fly against me, if you don't mind." Kira suddenly said.

"Kira, didn't you want to avoid fighting?" Sai asked worriedly.

Kira nodded. "I do, but something tells me I can't just pretend as if this war isn't happening. The truth is already in front of our faces, and we can't exactly turn away from it."

He then looked at Talisman in the eyes. "That's why I'm going to fight; if my power can end the war just a bit quicker, then I'm going to do just that. I will protect my friends and the people who live without worrying about war."

Tolle looked at Kira, then at Talisman. "Me too! Talisman, teach me to be a fighter pilot!"

"Tolle?" Miriallia looked at him.

He nods, staring back at her. "Like Kira said, we can't turn away from the war that's in front of us, especially now that we're already involved. Kira," Tolle turns to look at him. "We want to protect you, just as you want to protect us; no way am I letting my friend shoulder all the burden."

"Tolle, but…" Kira started to say before Sai cut him off.

"He's right. We're friends, and if you're risking your neck for us, then the least we can do is help as well."

Talisman took a swig of his drink. "That's nice and all, but…" They all turn to look at him. "This is, after all, a war. You're going to be killing people, are you fine with that?"

Tolle looked a little troubled, but Kira's eyes were still firm.

"I will get stronger, until I'm powerful enough to stop the enemy without killing them."

_Good luck with that. _Talisman silently thought to himself. "Well, it's your call. Once we get back on the ship I'll ask and see if we can have the Strike hooked up to a simulator."

…

…

"So that's the Artemis?" Athrun asked, looking at a picture taken by a long range recon drone.

"Yep, pretty impressive, isn't it? They hollowed out a rock for it and everything." Dearka said while staring at a map projected onto a table, complete with markers, key points, and lines denoting everything they knew about the fortress.

"Why are we sending a kill force for it? Artemis was never a problem before." Nicol asked, also looking at the map and taking notes.

"Well, apart from our attack being driven by the rage of a parent," Rau Le Cruset said while walking in, returning the salutes of his squad. "It's also because high command is worried that the station houses potential prototypes we're not aware of. Plus, taking it out would free our forces to operate around here as we please, if we needed to."

"Your father" Rau looked at Athrun "is also worried about those Moebius pilots we saw." Athrun thought back to the one insignia he managed to see, a dog biting on its chain. "Imagine the type of damage those pilots can do if they got their hands on one of the experimental prototypes…assuming they exist, of course."

"So what's the plan?" Athrun looked at the map, focusing specifically on the key points: the emitters of the Umbrella of Artemis.

…

…

Yzak waited inside the Artemis, having used the unprotected terminal in his room (_the Naturals are idiots_, he thought) to access the local internet. He found out that the Artemis had planned to send a refugee ship loaded with refugees from Heliopolis to Earth. From there, he could make his way to a ZAFT base. Whether if they'll let him keep his status as an elite, Yzak wasn't sure.

But regardless of the consequences, Yzak was driven by a desire to face the ribbon fighter and prove that he was as good as his uniform suggested.

…

"So we're not using the Duel?" Ribbon asked Murdoch as they ate a hurried dinner.

"Kira's the only guy that can program them, and I'm pretty sure none of you are any good in a mobile suit." Murdoch said. "No offense."

"None taken."

"So we're just going to mothball it for the time being. Eventually we'll transfer it to Alaska but I seriously doubt we'll be doing anything more to that."

"Shame."

"No kidding." Murdoch sighed. "When I first saw those Gs I had trouble sleeping. And now the first thing I get to do on it is to take it out of commission." He was ordered to take the cockpit block out entirely to avoid it being hijacked a second time.

…

…

…

"So, what do you think about the base commander?" Murrue said, after the three commanding officers were back aboard the Archangel.

"He's definitely planning something." Mu La Flaga said after stretching. "Did you see how he paid almost no attention to Lieutenant Badgiruel? Definitely not good behavior."

Natarle Badgiruel flinched a tiny bit. "Hearing you refer to me as a Lieutenant is a little grating, Lieutenant Commander La Flaga." They had received (unofficial) promotions given by Gerard Garcia per his powers as the commander in chief of the Artemis station.

La Flaga laughed. "Sorry, sorry." He then returned to being serious. "The man's obviously got his own agendas to pursue, and it might not be good for us; stay on your toes, Murrue."

Lieutenant Commander Murrue Ramius shrugged. "As long as the Archangel is supplied and good to go before the week is up he can do whatever the hell he wants."

…

"Sir, is this alright?" One of Garcia's aides asked him, upon reviewing the documents of transfer he was supposed to use.

"Yeah, it's fine. Damned Coordinators." Garcia said. He did not like the idea that the Atlantic federation could produce pilots good enough to not only fight GINNs on equal footing, but good enough to fight them, be at a disadvantage, and win. Thus, it was only convenient to have them labeled as inhuman.

"But these pilots are…"

"Our _best of the best._" Garcia smirked. "Surely their aces wouldn't have problems with doing a little teaching on their days off."

The aide groaned inwardly. "Yes sir, and about the supplying of the Archangel…"

Garcia waved it off. "Supply them as they request; their failures will not be our issue."

"Yes sir."

…

…

[A day or so later]

…

…

"I take it you're the leader of the Archangel's Aces?" Cipher heard, and turned around to face…

A man he's never met before, but judging by the rank insignias the guy was a top brass.

"No sir, he's doing something else; can I help you with anything?"

"Ah, well, you seem like the most capable member of the bunch." Garcia laughed.

Cipher smiled as well, in a way that was almost feral. _Looks like we have a leech on our hands. _He thought, the mercenary side of him finally happy to have some work.

…

"We're going to have them hooked up in about an hour or so. Until then, you're just going to have to wait." Murdoch said for about the fifth time to a very enthusiastic Tolle.

The Strike and Talisman's Moebius were currently being patched into the Archangel's inter-ship network, where the training programs were located.

"Why can't I just use that one? It's not like they're on duty or anything." Tolle pointed to Ribbon's craft.

"There's a bug with its control program. It's grounded until we get it fixed." One of the mechanics inside the Moebius said.

"With the way they fly these things I'm amazed they're still holding together." Tolle heard another mechanic say.

"No shit. Think Artemis will give us more units?" Said mechanic one.

"They better. Eurasia put a lot of money in the Moebius projects and for once they're winning."

"Will you two shut up and get back to work!?" Murdoch yelled. A pair of "sorry" came from the Moebius cockpit in reply. "Anyways, that's the deal. Until we hook this thing into the system you're just going to have to wait."

Tolle sighed.

"Oy! Kid! How's it going up there!?" Murdoch yelled up to the Strike.

Kira, who was working in the Strike, poked his head out. "Just a little more left." He said, before ducking back in.

"The Archangel really needs a dedicated simulator room." Tolle grumbled.

Murdoch shrugged. "It's supposed to."

…

"Yo. I got some good news and bad news." Cipher clapped Blaze on the back.

Blaze was resting in the Archangel's lounge. "What's the good news?"

"The base commander is a leech and an idiot, so he's going to give us some brand new Moebius crafts."

"How'd that happen?" Blaze turned to look at Cipher sitting down in a soft chair.

"Eurasia was one of the primary sponsors of the TS-MA2 Moebius Project, and we're doing really damn well in the Moebius crafts. Put two and two together."

"He doesn't want Atlantic to take more credit with the new mobile suits; makes sense. So what's the bad news?"

"The base commander is a leech and an idiot, so he's going to give us some dropout pilots to babysit."

Blaze rolled his eyes. One of his wingmen in Strangereal, Archer, was considered to have no talent for flying until he pulled an F-5 out of a hangar in the middle of the base being bombed. "They can't be that bad."

"The man is…very capable at cutting off the fat when it comes to his base." Cipher said, suddenly aware that they were, in fact, talking about a man responsible for keeping the ship they're on in full combat duty.

Blaze was suddenly reminded of Perrault, his old commander on Sand Island. Perrault was also very good at maintaining his power at the cost of efficiency and competency. "I see. But is having more in the air bad?"

"No, it isn't. The true bad news is that the commander is very, very proud of his static defense."

The two aces fondly thought back of the supposedly war-ending super weapons they destroyed.

"Well, shit." Blaze and Cipher said in unison.

…

…

[Some time during the week]

…

…

"Sai, what are you doing? Oh." Miriallia asked, before realizing that Sai was scrolling through a list of names on a wall-mounted display screen.

"A new refugee ship came in earlier, so I wondered…" He trailed off. Miriallia vaguely heard him muttering about the list not having an alphabetical search function.

The two spent an uncomfortable twenty seconds before Sai bolted off without another word.

…

…

[At the end of the week]

…

…

Rau Le Cruset stood in front of the pilots in the fleet in the briefing room. Behind him was an image of Artemis, and four insignias he had managed to scavenge from the surviving GINN black boxes.

"Warriors of ZAFT, I will outline our battle plan against the Artemis space station."

A picture of Artemis with its Umbrella of light deployed was brought up.

"As you know, the Artemis is defended by its laser-based shield system, which protects it against all forms of damage. Because of that, a direct assault is impossible, and a siege against it impractical, therefore…"

A new picture, of a particular gun mounted on their ship, appeared.

"The attack will be divided into three stages: the first stage will consist of a long range attack from the ship-mounted cold artillery to destroy the shield emitters; when the shield emitters have been brought down, the ships will fire all ordnance into the base ports to reduce the enemy deployments."

Various pictures of the Artemis, focusing on several large hangar ports, appeared on the screen.

"The last stage of the attack will be an all-out attack from our Mobile Suit divisions. Your goal, gentlemen, is to completely paralyze the base's ability to fight back and crush Artemis into dust."

Athrun raised his hand.

"Yes, Athrun?"

"What about Yzak?"

Rau smiled. "A special operations force will be deployed to retrieve him."

The insignias of a dog biting on its chain and a Mobius loop appeared on the screen again. "As some of you may be aware, the Federation has recently found some extremely talented pilots. Loathe as I am to say this, if you see these pilots, ignore them and focus on destroying the station; if they're dedicated to chasing you down, request support from nearby allies, or retreat."

The last suggestion brought some murmurs from the pilots.

"We run from Moebius crafts? Really?" One of the pilots laughed. "C'mon, guys. They're cake! They'll show up, we'll pump them full of lead! Boom! Job done."

Rau laughed as well. "If it goes that well, I'll be a happy man. All of you are aware of the situation. Get prepared at once."

…

…

Yzak snuck onto a refugee ship due to deploy to Earth, dressed as plainly as he could with what he stole from an on-ship shop.

…

…

Murrue sat down in the Captain's seat back on the Archangel, the ship ready to deploy after the week of resupply. A moment later, a communications from a ship came in; a ship that Cipher had somehow wheedled the base commander to loan to them as a support craft until the Archangel reached the 8th Fleet.

"Captain Murrue, how's your deployment status?" The other ship's captain asked.

"We're mustering our crew, and will be ready to deploy in fifteen minutes."

"Excellent. I hope that we'll both have a safe voyage."

"Thank you for providing support." Murrue said.

"Think nothing of it. We're all humans, after all."

…

A warning suddenly rang through the base.

"All hands, ZAFT ships have been sighted in probably operational range. All hands, report to your stations."

"ZAFT. Of all the times…" Murrue muttered. "Archangel to Artemis control. Can we still deploy?"

"Negative. They'll chase you down if you deployed now. Sit tight, and eventually they'll go away." The control operator said.

Murrue sighed. "How long would that be?" She asked herself.

…

"Oy, guys, we're deploying."

"Wait, what?"

Blaze looked at the other three pilots, mild confusion written on their faces.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Blaze said simply.

"Same with us, but we're not going to get a clear order with that umbrella blocking our way." Ribbon shrugged.

Talisman was showing some maneuvers to Tolle on a small display. "Besides, the new pilots aren't here, and the new Moebius crafts aren't here. If there's a launch order only Blaze and Cipher can deploy."

As it turned out, Mobius one's craft had sustained a remarkable amount of internal damage due to his piloting, and was cannibalized for parts to keep Blaze and Cipher's crafts afloat. Likewise, Talisman's craft was also scrapped after a thorough search had found its hard points totally melted and unable to function any longer.

"Shit. Well, can't say I'm surprised. Cipher."

Cipher sighed, but got up anyway. "Might as well be on standby."

"Wait, I'm going with you." Kira said, after debating internally for a little while.

"You sure, kid?" Cipher was drafted into helping Talisman with the training sessions, and they both found out that Kira was very good at piloting that Strike of his.

"Yeah; I want to protect everyone."

"Focus on the ship first. If you protect everyone you'll just end up not being able to protect anyone." Cipher warned. Kira gave a good natured salute in response.

…

…

"Range optimal. Ballistic trajectory calculations complete, arming cold."

Rau Le Cruset heard the ship weapon control officer read.

"All ships, coordinate, and prepare to fire on my mark." The ship captain said, looking at a watch.

…

"Mark."

…

"You think they're doing anything interesting out there?" An operator on the Artemis asked her neighbor.

"At that distance? Probably just yell at us." Her neighbor stretched.

Neither of them noticed the small, almost unnoticeable sudden spike of heat that occurred on the ships.

…

"The hell was that?" Cipher suddenly said.

"I don't know, I've got a bad feeling…Murdoch, can we deploy?"

"In your dreams; just because we bolted them up doesn't mean you can fly them." Murdoch was standing next to what looked like a literal junk heap with an engine strapped to it.

…

…

Alarms blared in the station.

"We're taking fire! We're taking fire! Shit! Emitters One and Four have been hit!"

"Bring up the shields! Is there any danger to the shield coverage!?"

…

Rau looked impassively at the display, at the sight of Artemis, being fully covered by its Umbrella of Light.

"We hit two of the five targets; I don't think we'll get a second shot, sir." The captain said, deeply ashamed of his gunner's skill.

The gunner in question owed all of his buddies a round of drinks.

"That's fine. I always have a backup plan." Rau said lightly.

…

…

"What the hell?! Shield Emitter Three is down!" An Artemis operator suddenly said.

"Bring out the cameras!" The chief operator said, dressed as if he rolled out of bed (which he did).

The cameras were active, and…nothing.

They couldn't see anything out of the ordinary as the Umbrella of Artemis continued to cover the base.

Suddenly, another shield emitter was cut to pieces, as they saw a beam of light emit from an unnaturally black part of space.

"Shield Emitter four is down! The shield system has a leak!"

…

…

"Shield system has been compromised! All units! Scramble Launch!"

The catapults on the ZAFT ships worked overtime to launch their mobile suits at the Artemis, which was now covered by a blanket of light with a massive hole in it.

"Natarle! Is everyone back yet?" Murrue asked, the alarm on the system getting to her nerves.

"Everyone is back, plus a few extra."

"Extra?" Murrue couldn't help but ask.

Natarle's face had disapproval written all over it. "Sai brought his girlfriend aboard."

…

"Flay, this isn't a good idea." Sai said for about the fifth time.

"And like I said I'm not going back to Earth while Papa is in space." Flay said for about the fourth time. "And I get to be with you and your friends, so it's a win-win."

Sai could only sigh. "Fine, but stay out of trouble."

…

"Shield emitters six, seven, eight all offline!"

"What the hell is attacking us?!"

…

Nicol took a deep breath in the pilot seat of the Blitz Gundam, before hailing Rau Le Cruset back on his ship. "Nicol here, I've taken out the primary targets. What's next?"

"Find the legged ship; we're going to start phase two."

"Roger."

…

"Energy spikes from the enemy ship! They're going to fire!"

Garcia had reached the command room by now.

"Rotate the station! Don't let them hit us!" The station helmsman roared.

"Firing Thrusters! C'mon, baby, move…!"

…

The ZAFT ships and the Artemis crew watched as the station turned, slowly, to bring about a layer of its shield against the incoming wave of beams and missiles.

And both sides knew: It wasn't going to make it.

…

More warning sirens blared inside the Artemis as the first wave of attacks slammed into its side, destroying installations to pieces and blocking a lot of hangars with debris.

Not all of them though.

…

Garcia gritted his teeth, and raised a station-wide alert.

"All pilots scramble and intercept the enemy immediately! Repeat! Kill every last one of those Coordinator bastards!"

He then raised a specific alert to the Archangel.

"Archangel, have your pilots to deploy as well!"

…

Murrue shook her head. "The crafts they're supposed to fly haven't arrived yet, and our current units are nonoperational." On Cipher's suggestion the Archangel treated the Strike as barely operational: useable as a gun point, but useless once it detaches from the ship.

She heard Garcia swore and close the communication link.

She then heard the door to the bridge open.

"It might be a good idea to get the hell out of here really fast, captain." Blaze said behind her.

"I would, but with the umbrella active like that we're not going to get very far."

Both of them looked ahead at the screen of light outside the dock.

…

"All GINN units! Attack all targets of opportunity! Cripple the station!" Rau Le Cruset found a hangar that wasn't blocked yet and sprayed it with bullets. He was rewarded by a series of explosions from inside the hangar.

"Second Volley, away!" He heard the captain of the fleet say, before opening a private channel. "Nicol, have you located the legged ship?"

"No, I haven't." Nicol said, watching a few of the visual feeds of the small unmanned camera drones fly over the other side of the fortress: it was deemed too risky to send the pilots over to the other side of the station, since it was still covered by the umbrella of light.

Rau heard his unit blare a lock warning, and jinked away from a line of conventional bullet fire.

"Watch yourselves, gentlemen, the station is waking up!"

"Athrun, roger." Athrun dodged a spray of fire from an anti-aircraft gun and fired at it with his rifle, destroying it. He took a moment to look around, and noted with pride how the GINNs were either dodging the attacks from the station or just taking minimal damage, if any.

"Second volley, impact in ten seconds, all units stand clear of impact zone." Rau said, watching his timer. It was actually twenty seconds until impact, but safety is better.

The GINNs that received threat warnings accelerated out of the way as the second barrage of beams and missiles hit the station.

…

"Enemy second wave, hit! Breach detected!" An operator of the station said in a panic.

"Countermeasures! Make sure nobody gets sucked out!" The master operator said.

Garcia gritted his teeth, watching the display of GINNS flying about his fortress like flies while the anti-aircraft guns fire back almost lethargically among the debris, before being destroyed by that unknown red unit.

Correction: By that stolen Red unit.

"Damn those Atlantic bastards, if only they knew what security is." He hissed. "What's the status on the Moebius transfers!?"

"All four units have finished their modifications and are being routed to the Archangel." Another operator said. "We couldn't find the reserve pilots to send to the ship, however."

"That's fine, send them some rookies! Just get them out of the dock!" Garcia could feel one of his veins pop (not that it actually did). _I won't let my reputation be tarnished by losing that ship, goddammit!_

…

"Artemis to Archangel," Natarle heard over the communications, while she hurried coached Miriallia on its usage. "Do you copy?" She nodded at the younger girl.

"This is Archangel, we copy; go ahead, Artemis." Miriallia said, a brief tremble in her voice.

"We have a delivery of Moebius crafts, please open your hangars and prepare them for docking."

Blaze immediately rushed over to the communications. "Do you have four units ready for action?"

"Yes, we do, but…"

"Then fire them up, we'll be out there right now."

"Wait, what are you—"

Blaze had already left the bridge.

Murrue sighed. "Can't blame the man." Then she raised a ship-wide alert. "Razgriz team, you have orders to scramble, meet Blaze in Catapult One."

…

"Oy, Blaze! What the hell are we doing?!" Cipher demanded.

Blaze noted that everyone was already in their flight suits.

"There're four fighters out there with our names on it." He said simply, before clutching what looks like an oversized coat hanger. The other three aces shrugged and did the same.

"Catapult one, soft deploy." One of the hangar crew said, and launched the hanger out at a fairly gentle speed.

…

"Oh, I am liking _this_." Cipher said, after seeing the modified Moebius crafts they'll be flying.

Their new crafts were outfitted with oversized engines that wouldn't have looked out of place on a capital ship. Underneath the two "legs" of the Moebius were Linear Guns, elongated to drive a projectile out of the gun faster. Underneath the middle hardpoint of the craft was a single missile. Their insignias were painted on the back of the Moebius crafts, next to a deployable something and two small orbs.

"What're the new toys we got?" Talisman said as he floated into the cockpit and strapped himself in.

Blaze scanned the document he was handed in a hurry. "The missile is the same large-scale one that our ship uses…"

"That explains why it's so flat." Mobius one muttered, going through the startup sequence.

"The Linear guns are using additional coils, so they hit harder but also burn up faster; we got two more Vulcans than normal and a deployable radiator so we don't catch on fire again. These guys thought of everything." He put the paper detailing the changes to the crafts underneath his seat and strapped himself in.

"Razgriz, check in."

"Two" Cipher.

"Three." Mobius One.

"Four." Talisman.

The four pilots looked to the front of the hangar, and their eyes widened in surprise as the umbrella of light vanished from sight.

…

"What's going on?! What happened to the Umbrella?!" Garcia demanded, watching alerts pop up all over the station.

"We…we don't know, sir! The main system overheated and just shut down! Commencing emergency cooling procedures!"

Garcia swore loudly. "Just get it back online!"

…

"The Umbrella has vanished…? Well, no point waiting for it to come back." The ZAFT fleet captain muttered. "All ships fire long range missiles! Transfer targeting to our spotter units when they're free!"

…

Yzak reclined a little in his chair aboard the refugee ship, allowing a moment of pride as he watched his handiwork.

…

"Nicol, the long range missiles are coming in, you're in charge of units five through nine. Guide them well." Rau said.

"Roger, sir." Nicol watched the readout in one of the monitors change to a display of four missiles, before placing in coordinates into those missiles, guiding them to their destinations.

He then saw an Anti-Aircraft gun pop up next to him, and lazily picked it off with his beam rifle.

…

"Archangel! Deploy immediately! Get out of here!" Garcia roared over the intercom.

Murrue wasn't sure what he was doing, but complied. "Archangel, roger, we'll deploy immediately."

"Razgriz, escort us as we make our way out of the battle zone."

"Razgriz one, roger."

...

Nicol heard one of his alerts go off, and watched a second monitor zoom in to the picture of a hangar…and then the Archangel came slowly into view.

"Captain! I see the enemy ship! I could redirect a missile to hit it!"

"Don't bother; it wouldn't make it." Came Rau's reply.

Nicol was about to argue the point when he saw a wing of four Moebius crafts come into view. He maneuvered his camera above the Moebius crafts and saw the four insignias of the Aces of Strangereal. Well, more specifically, he saw the image of the dog biting on its chain.

"Damn." He said under his breath.

…

"More missiles incoming!" The operator on the station said, watching a swarm of blips come toward the station on the radar display. He didn't catch the sixteen special ones inside the swarm of hundreds, for good reason.

"Intercept!" Garcia roared.

Due to the Umbrella being down, the hangars that were undamaged could actually deploy interceptor crafts for a change, and Moebius crafts started to fly against the missiles.

Which would be a relief, if they survived for more than five minutes; the GINNs were liberally spraying each Moebius craft that came into view with machine gun fire, per their briefings: none of them wanted to be known as a pilot who was shot down by a Moebius craft, after all.

…

"Shit, what are they teaching the other pilots?" Mobius one said, watching yet another allied craft fall under a withering hail of fire.

"How many pilots actually survive out there?" Blaze asked. All of them didn't want to answer.

Blaze then saw a communication request from a particular wing of Mobius crafts. "This is Razgriz one, state your intentions."

"This is Artemis detachment squadrons thirty five and thirty six, we've been transferred to your command."

Blaze heard the tremble in the voice and groaned inwardly. _Rookies_.

"Razgriz one, roger. Stay near and cover the Archangel."

"Blaze, uh. I mean, Razgriz One." He heard someone say.

Kira came onto the screen. "Do I have permission to launch?"

Blaze mulled it over for a moment. "Yeah, but stay near the Archangel for now. Once we're far enough from the station then you can run wild."

"What? Why?"

"Do you think we're going to get away without a chase?" Talisman said, watching his radar: some GINNs have taken notice and were accelerating towards the Archangel.

"Razgriz one to flight, commence interception."

…

"Captain! It's them!" Rau Le Cruset heard one of his GINN pilots say, and zoomed in on the four Moebius crafts with overlarge engines.

"All GINN units: keep your eye out on those units but do not engage! Continue attacking Artemis station!"

…

"The hell is he saying? There's nothing on the station left to shoot at!" The GINN pilot smirked. "Cruset's lost his balls, I say. Let's show these guys what real ZAFT pilots can do!"

…

"Razgriz squadron, you're cleared to engage." Blaze heard over the communications. He still was getting used to hearing Miriallia of all people relaying orders.

"Roger that. Wardog Leader, engage." Blaze.

"Galm one, engaging." Cipher.

"Garuda one, engaging." Talisman.

"Mobius one, engage." Ribbon.

…

Rau Le Cruset felt a sudden chill run through his body.

…

The loudmouth GINN pilot raised his recoilless rifle towards the lead oversized engine Moebius craft, and fired.

Said Moebius craft rolled out of the way and fired back with its two Linear guns.

The pilot felt two massive jolts and the warning in his cockpit told him that he was now missing both of his arms.

…

"What the hell?" The pilot could only watch as the Moebius crafts ignored his now armless suit and go after his squadron.

…

"Report! Michael team has been disabled!"

The Captain of a ZAFT ship looked about in mild confusion: Michael team wasn't exactly the best they had but they certainly weren't rookies either. Was it the Aces Rau had warned them about?

"Have all units use their interlink cameras! Find out what's going on!" He ordered.

…

"They're ignoring us." Cipher said with a mixture of amusement and respect; it takes a lot of guts to ignore someone trying to kill you and focus on your mission.

"Good for them." Blaze said. "Heads up, new group out there. Take them out."

"Got it."

…

"Osprey team, the Aces are heading in your direction, be careful." The Osprey team leader heard over the radio.

"Don't worry, Rau, we'll take care of them." He then raised a general alert.

"Osprey team to all local units, requesting firing support against the Aces."

"Hellion team, roger; can't believe we actually have to try against the Naturals."

"Rosemary team, we're en route."

"Quail team, got it."

"Miguel team, we're here."

…

"Oh, looks like we got a lot of attention." Blaze was surprised to see some twenty-odd GINNs raise their guns at the four of them. "Two, you're with me, we're heading in."

"Cipher, got it."

"Three and Four, we're counting on you."

"Roger."

…

"Enemy lead units are accelerating!" Rosemary team leader said, surprised.

"Yeah, what can they do-" Her teammate's response was cut off when a shot hit her unit square in the head.

"What the-damn!" Rosemary leader looked around frantically before jinking away from a spray of Vulcan fire, only to be hit in the right leg by a Linear gun shot.

"All units, their linear guns are faster than normal! Don't get distracted!" She said as she pulled out her two machine guns and fired at the Moebius crafts speeding past her.

…

"I got the dual wielder." Talisman said with Rosemary leader's back square in his sights. He depressed the trigger and raked the engine with Vulcan fire.

…

"Rosemary leader is down!" One of the Rosemary wingmen said, as the leader watched the four units fly past her and through the blanket of machine gun fire.

…

"Whoa. We don't have a good angle to attack like this." Cipher said, rolling and dodging through the GINN fire.

"We do." Talisman laughed, enjoying the relative lack of machinegun fire in his airspace as he sighted what was his fourth GINN of the minute and fired his linear guns.

"Hey, ZAFT. Look at us for a moment, will ya?" Mobius one said lazily, shooting out the engines on yet another GINN.

…

"Shit, we're losing ground!" Hellion leader hissed. "All units spread out! Don't make yourselves an easy target!"

The Hellion team spread out like they were told, but as a result their fire dissipated for just a moment.

That brief moment was all Blaze and Cipher needed.

The Hellion team was now missing various arms and legs (and a head) on their GINNs.

…

Rau Le Cruset shook his head. "Nevermind them. Athrun, Dearka, Nicol. We're targeting the legged ship." He received three affirmatives in reply.

…

"Archangel, be advised, the Cruset team is heading in your direction." Blaze said, after Talisman alerted him on the location of said Cruset team.

"Roger, can you guys make it back?"

"Negative, we're still engaged with the enemy forces." Cipher said. Although they were able to disable a fair amount of GINNs, all of them were perfectly fine with using their guns with their other arms or firing without the assistance of their main cameras. The end result being that the Aces were having a harder time than normal, because they were up against twenty enemies, some of them firing a little wildly.

"Kira, your turn." Blaze said simply.

"Roger. Kira Yamato, Strike, engaging the enemy!"

…

"Archangel will be out of the combat area in five minutes."

…

"That's…the unit we didn't recover!" Athrun said upon seeing the Strike.

"Inside that unit…is it Athrun?" Kira wondered, before opening a general communications link. "Strike to Aegis. Athrun, is it you?"

"Kira…" Athrun's shock was written on his face. "Kira, why are you with the Naturals?! You're a Coordinator!"

Kira mulled it over for a fraction of a second. "I am here because I want to be; there are people I want to protect on that ship." He raised his Strike's gun towards the Aegis. "Athrun. You're my friend, so I don't want to fight you. Please, leave the combat area."

"Kira…" Athrun raised his gun as well. "I have my duty towards ZAFT. I'm sorry, but I'll bring you back with me, so please don't resist."

Athrun depressed his trigger, and almost immediately heard the incoming fire warning and barely got out of the way. His shot as a result went wide.

"Athrun. You're wrong about one thing: Coordinators, Naturals, we're all human in the end." Kira, in the Aile Strike, pulled out a beam saber to complement his rifle, and threw his shield away. "I may be a Coordinator on a ship of Naturals, but before that… I am a human!" With that, Kira opened his engines to maximum thrust.

Athrun dodged three shots from Kira's beam rifle before he found himself staring down Kira's beam saber.

Kira had learned well from Talisman (and Cipher, who helped out during training). All the moments where he hesitated during training was rewarded by either one of the two aces pounding his head in, super powered prototype notwithstanding. With his skills as a Coordinator and experience of being toyed with for hours on end in the simulator by the Demon Lord of the Round Table and the Angel of Gracemeria, Kira is now miles ahead of what he would have been.

Athrun felt his blood freeze, but Kira had zero intentions of destroying the Aegis to begin with; instead, Kira slashed the Aegis's beam rifle to shreds before boosting back hard to dodge a shot from the Buster.

"Shit. Athrun! You alright there?!" Dearka locked onto the Strike, letting Kira know that he was being targeted. Dearka fired as quickly as he could, but Kira's convoluted evasion cause him to miss cleanly every single time. "What's with this bastard!? He's even faster than those Moebius crafts!"

Kira, meanwhile, was muttering to himself. "Don't stand still, keep moving. Watch for the opening…"

The opening, in this case, was Dearka needing to take a moment for the gun to cool.

"…and strike!" Kira pulled the trigger three times.

"Oh shit!" The buster's thrusters were enough to save it from being hit directly, but as Dearka's cockpit says, the leg sections were grazed and were now demanding to be maintained.

"One more!" Kira took aim at the Buster's head, and fired a shot.

Dearka wasn't able to stop his unit in time.

The beam struck a something dark that had zoomed up in front of the Buster.

"Dearka! Don't get careless!" Nicol said, his Blitz Gundam showing up in the infrared sensors of the nearby crafts.

"Damn. Who'd thought the boy from back when would actually be this good." Rau Le Cruset muttered, trying to find an opening in the blanket of fire that covered the Archangel. "No, that's not quite right…who'd thought that he would find such a talented teacher, right? Mu La Flaga!"

Mu, meanwhile, was sulking on the bridge because the Moebius Zero wasn't cleared for takeoff.

…

"Athrun, Dearka, we'll take him on together." Nicol said, as Athrun shook his head to get the fear out of his system.

"Got it. Nicol, we'll follow your lead." Athrun said, activating the beam saber in the undamaged arm.

"Huh? Uh, right." Nicol said while looking at a series of screens as presented to him by the cameras re-routed to this battlefield. "Dearka, open fire, use ballistic arms too; it's fine if the Armor blocks it."

"Alright, but you better know what you're talking about, man." Dearka locked onto the Strike again, and fired the Buster's missiles.

The Strike backpedaled by turning a full 180 degrees around to use the main thrusters, and then turning back around to pick off the missiles with the Vulcans.

"Shit, now what?" Dearka said, rising to avoid a counter-fire (3 shots very fast together) from the Strike.

Nicol didn't answer; rather, his Blitz did the talking for him, as he fired at Kira from below the Strike, without using the targeting system.

"Whoa!" Kira heard his alarms blare and twisted in an extremely odd angle to dodge the fire from below him.

"Jeez! What's with this guy!?" Nicol accelerated out of the way from the counter-attack fire. "Athrun! Go for it!"

Kira was muttering to himself again. "If I'm being attacked, I should expect to continue being attacked, and if I can counter, I should even if I can't see, thus…!"

Athrun sped downwards toward the Strike, which was facing downwards when it was counter attacking the Blitz. "Kira, don't move!" Athrun said to himself.

Kira, after having been shot at countless times to his back during training by Cipher and Talisman, instinctively, and with his beam saber active, turned at maximum thrust.

Athrun saw a white blur, and then felt his unit shake as his unit's arm was knocked away by a blur of green.

Kira, a little dizzy from the g-force, brought his unit back to a standstill (getting dizzier from the g-force) and aimed his beam rifle, right at the head of the Aegis, and pulled the trigger.

Athrun pressed a button, and the Aegis transformed into its Mobile Armor form, resembling a claw. Which he opened to try and grab the Strike. The beam rifle fire aimed at his head flew off into space, as the target it was trying to hit no longer existed.

Kira maneuvered his Strike for a shoulder charge into the Aegis, right into the claw.

The resulting force stunned Athrun for a brief moment, which was all Kira needed; the Strike spun around and fired its engines at full power, escaping from the Aegis and damaging it with the fire from the engine.

"Kira…" Athrun looked on at the Strike's back in a mixture of shock and awe.

"Athrun! You alright in there?!" Dearka said, taking shots at the Strike without the use of the targeting system. After the first few shots he made a mental note to practice shooting without targeting, since his shots were going nowhere close to the Strike. He also kept himself moving while shooting, which, while making his aim worse, was also proving to be quite a bit more helpful on evading the counter fire from the Strike, which came with alarming frequency and were almost all near-hits.

"I'm fine. My threat radar's going crazy though." Athrun said; his cockpit was practically glowing red with the sheer amount of alerts coming from every piece of the Aegis's body that sustained burn damage.

…

"Yo! Kira! Need a hand?" Blaze said.

"Blaze! Yeah, a little help would be nice." Kira dodged another wave of fire from the almost invisible Blitz and the long distance Buster.

"Razgriz! On me!" Blaze received three affirmatives in reply, and the four Moebius crafts dove down onto the Buster, peppering it with Vulcan fire.

"Archangel to all units, we're going to leave the battlezone at maximum acceleration in sixty seconds, return to the ship." Murrue said over the radio.

"Roger that; Kira, return to the ship, we'll cover your six."

"Kira Yamato, roger." Kira dodged yet another spray of fire from the Blitz while shooting back to give himself some cover, and flew towards the Archangel. "What about the Rookies?" He asked nobody in particular.

"Don't worry about them; we recovered them a while back since they kept getting in the way of our anti-air fire." Murdoch said, laughing.

…

"Cruset team, we're done here; let's go back; the Archangel will leave the combat area soon." Rau said as he accelerates away from the Archangel at last. He was also giving a wide berth to the Strangereal Aces that were heading to the Archangel.

"Roger. Damn." Athrun was both disappointed and angry that Kira not only outperformed him but had apparently allied with the Naturals. And kicked his ass, to boot.

The Aegis (now looking much worse for the wear), Buster, and Blitz accelerated out of the combat area, to be replaced by a veritable swarm of GINNs, many of them missing pieces from their body.

"Shit. Razgriz, we have visitors." Cipher said, looking at the GINNs behind them.

…

"Artemis, shield emitter backup generators ready to go."

…

"Razgriz three, what are you doing?" Natarle demanded, after seeing Mobius One do a very sudden about face and slow down to meet the GINNs.

Mobius One didn't answer, and instead flipped his communications to an open channel.

"To all ZAFT units, leave the combat area. This is your only warning; continue to approach, and I will be shooting to kill."

…

"Asshole, like I'm gonna let you walk all over us like that!" The ZAFT Hellion Team leader snarled, and fired a shot from his bazooka-looking recoilless rifle. His GINN then suffered a direct hit in the cockpit block and went silent.

Mobius One barely bothered to evade the incoming fire as it flew harmless away into deep space.

"What the…the captain's been hit!" A Hellion team Member said, raising his gun in rage; his squadmates followed his example.

They had barely managed to fire a few shots before three shots from the linear guns found their way to the cockpit blocks of those GINNs.

"Oy, ZAFT pilots," The ZAFT pilots heard over the communications; a voice from a different person, much older than the first guy. "The only reason you're still alive is because we've been trying to avoid a kill shot. Run along home like good little boys now."

…

Garcia rubbed his temples. _I know what he said, but damn. To think we would want to leave monsters alive for later._

"Umbrella's backup shield emitters are ready to deploy! Main shield system cooling complete!"

Garcia took a deep breath. "Deploy shield!"

…

"Whoa! What the hell!?" Dearka's unit spun a little wildly as the Artemis's Umbrella of Light deployed yet again, this time covering the whole base.

"I guess we overstayed our welcome. All units, mission complete, return to your carriers." Rau Le Cruset said, his voice somewhat harder than usual.

"We can wait until the new generators die out and then mount a new attack, right?" Nicol said as he scanned Artemis for its new emitter locations.

"Well, we crippled the station either way; even if we leave it alone for now it won't be useful for the duration of war." Athrun said, watching the shield flicker as debris from inside the Artemis float into it.

"What are our losses?" Rau asked the fleet captain.

"A few of our ships were hit by long distance counter battery fire, but they're still afloat. Six GINNs were killed, twelve crippled." An operator said. "On the plus side we killed about a million Moebius crafts and a star base, so I think we came out ahead." He added to himself.

Rau smiled; the man forgot to turn his microphone for his additional comment.

Nicol then received another alert on the Blitz. "Captain. I picked up Yzak's SOS signal. I'm almost out of energy, but I can go recover him."

"Negative; we have a shuttle for that. Give them the coordinates and let them handle it."

"Roger."

…

"Razgriz team has bolted onto the Archangel."

Deeming the docking sequence too time consuming, the four Aces of Strangereal elected to use their grapples and tie themselves to the "wings" on the Archangel. Right now the four Moebius crafts had reeled themselves in and had their folding radiators deployed to bleed off the heat from their engines.

"Good work out there, kid." Blaze said to Kira. "Nice to see that training pay off well."

"Yes, sir. It was thanks to your support." Kira said, his adrenaline finally levelling off. "But I never expected Mr. Ribbon to be so…well…"

Blaze chuckled. "Oh, he's not bloodthirsty; those guys would've continued to pursue if we didn't give them enough incentive."

…

Yzak was found in a deployed refugee ship that had a malfunctioning engine due to debris, and was promptly recovered by the ZAFT special operation soldiers. The ship itself was given some quick repairs so it would return to Earth on time; the ZAFT military weren't in the mood to attack civilians.

Instead, they were all (Yzak included) looking forward to a compiled video stream concerning some very interesting units that the Earth Federation was fielding.

…

…

"To all units, this is the compiled footage concerning the enemy's custom Moebius units. Study it, and learn from it."

Athrun, Dearka, Nicol, and Yzak (in a brand new red uniform, no less) were watching the footage in the ship lounge with the other pilots.

"Yzak, what did you do to the station?" Nicol asked him while the video was being prepared.

"I slipped a bug into it that made the cooling system computers malfunction." He said with a smirk. What he didn't say was that the Artemis's firewalls were good enough that the only thing he could do was to slip in such an otherwise innocuous virus. "If it wasn't giving out the right readouts, the cooling units won't work to keep the Umbrella working, and it burns itself to the ground."

"That's...pretty smart." Nicol said. Everyone caught the implied message, and Yzak bopped Nicol on the head in retaliation.

"Hey!" Nicol rubbed his head.

"We got it working, now pay attention." One of the technicians at the front said.

…

"Holy..." Dearka breathed, transfixed by the pilots in the customized Moebius units as they danced through the barrage of machine gun fire laid down upon them. Even though he had fought against them before, it was only when he saw them dance through fire thick enough to blanket the screen did he fully appreciate just how valuable the stolen Buster was in saving his life.

"Yeah." Yzak was focused entirely on the one with the Ribbon Insignia, who was unerringly hitting anything and everything in front of him, even when he was being targeted by his prey.

_Kira must have learned from these guys…If that's the case… _Athrun thought, feeling the fear rising through his body before he forced it down again.

…

Once the footage ended, the lounge, which before was at least full of conversation, was deathly silent.

All of the pilots (and some crew who came to watch) were now keenly aware that the only reason they were alive was because the pilots in the custom Moebius crafts were firing only to disable. The fact that, despite all of them expending almost all of their ammo blanketing the combat area, not a single Moebius craft sustained anything remotely resembling battle damage (that the footage could see) made them realize just how badly outclassed they were. If the nervous laughter that was popping up was any indication, some of them were having trouble accepting that idea.

None of them, except for perhaps Nicol and Yzak, noticed that the pilots could only fly as they did because they supported and covered for each other; every time the front units streaked past a GINN and caused it to turn just a fraction, it would be hit almost instantaneously in the arm or the back by another unit. Nicol was, at one point, timing their attacks to a metronome inside his head.

After nearly a minute of everyone just sitting there, staring at a freeze frame of the last picture of the footage: the picture of a dog biting its chain…

There was a loud noise that jolted everyone awake.

Athrun had given himself a wake-up slap to the face. "Yzak, Dearka, Nicol. Simulators. Now."

Yzak grimly nodded, slightly smirking. He made no mention of the small bead of sweat that floated from his forehead.

Dearka blinked, looked down, and found his hands trembling.

Nicol was busy writing furiously in a little pocketbook that he carried with him, his face several shades paler than it normally is. His face was concentrated in a look that was some mixture of terror and resolution.

Athrun looked to the other pilots, and saw the fear that was apparent in their eyes, heard some of the nervous laughter that was just beginning to bubble up. He then took a deep breath. "They're better than us; we've just seen it. We have a lot of work to do, for ZAFT."

He then walked out of the lounge, followed by the rest of the Cruset team, with Nicol bumping into the door frame, so engrossed in his writing.

The rest of the pilots sat in silence a little while longer, looking at each other, before the respective squadron leaders ushered their squads to training.

…

"Was that ok? We might have gone overboard." One of the technicians responsible for compiling the footage asked.

Rau Le Cruset clapped the man on the shoulder. "Yeah. I have to thank those pilots if I ever get to meet them; they'll propel the ZAFT army to a brand new level." The technicians were instructed focus on footage from the units that sustained fire and units that were in the heat of the action. As a result, the Aces of Strangereal appeared a lot faster and a lot more vicious than they were, attacking and weaving near the cameras almost as if using magic.

Well, as far as Rau Le Cruset is concerned, they might as well be made of magic.

"Compile their flight data, and send it to the ZAFT high command. Advise them that this should be the new standard all ZAFT pilots should expect to fight against." He then told the technicians. _Even if it is untrue…no, the Federation will have this data too._

"Got it."

…

…

"Footage is out; it looks pretty good, Commander." One of Garcia's underlings said.

Per Cipher's suggestion, Gerard Garcia had managed to capture all four pilots and their flying in a much more complete fashion than ZAFT, and the Artemis technicians had also compiled it into a video that was full of "action shots" depicting Moebius crafts shooting down GINNs while doing some extremely fancy flying. Unfortunately, it merely looked like badly made war propaganda, and the end result wasn't nearly as good as it was compared to the ZAFT version. It did wonders for morale however, especially to some new pilots assigned to fly in Moebius crafts; it made them think they would actually survive their first battles.

He also submitted the flight data in its entirety to the Earth Federation (Eurasia) high command and the Artemis simulators, with the express order that all pilots should practice against that data until they can keep up, by any means necessary.

He also, with a brilliant stroke of foresight (if he does say so himself) suggested that the improved Linear Gun should be mass produced for all of their Moebius crafts in the Federation Forces.

The Artemis pilots were much more successful in recognizing the effectiveness of squadron based combat than their ZAFT compatriots, which was about the only thing they did better, even with the complete data that they had.

…

In his office, a man in a crisp blue shirt viewed the video sent to him by the Federation with ill-disguised contempt.

"Naturals my ass. These guys are just as bad as the damned monsters in space."

He then took a deep breath.

"Well, I'll have them die for me; it will be just a matter of patience."

…

"I'll have my enemies dead before me; just you wait, you damned Coordinators! For a blue and pure world!"

…

…

…

{ === + === }

Author Notes

Not gonna lie, had some trouble finding a place to stop.

Give me some feedback on whether if anything's confusing or whatever, since I could use guidance here and there.

Blitz is cool. I mean…Gundam painted black with the ability to just vanish? Perfect special ops unit right there. I figured Nicol should do operations instead of just straight up fighting (hence him having guidance of the long range cruise missiles)

Overall I personally liked how the Artemis battle turned out. It was a lot more involved than I had anticipated. Artemis's Umbrella in the show (I haven't seen the HD-remaster, mind you) lasted for like, a single hit from Nicole, which was probably good for animation budgets, but since I don't have one I can go a little crazier.

An animation budget, I mean. Not that I have a Blitz either, but…


	4. Stage 4 - Songstress of Junius Seven

"Archangel, all units recovered." Miriallia said, after the Moebius units were finally recovered into the ship.

"Ugh, finally; too much sitting and doing nothing." Blaze grumbled, finally unstrapping himself from the seat.

…

"It a pity the escort ship didn't make it." Murrue mused. The escort ship that was supposed to go with them was trapped in the dock when the entrance was blocked by debris.

"Yeah; what's going to happen now?" Natarle wondered while looking at the small speck in the distance of the view port that was Artemis, its Umbrella shimmering as debris from the station kept on floating into it.

"Odds are? We're going to be pursued." Mu said. "I'll be surprised if ZAFT will let those guys go after what happened back there."

"Well, the Archangel has better acceleration than the Nasca class cruisers ZAFT is fielding, so we'll be fine." Natarle said with pride in her voice.

"Didn't help us the first time." Mu couldn't help but say in an undertone, earning him a dirty look from the severe black-haired lady.

…

…

…

"Captain Cruset, are we going to be pursuing that legged ship?" One of the other ship captains asked him over the ship communications.

"We are, but not before resupplying; no point pursuing the enemy if we don't have mobile suit support."

"Yeah." The captain sighed before signing off; his ship used to house the Hellion team, and their immediate and sudden death at the hands of a single Moebius (modifications or no) was shocking, to say the least.

Rau Le Cruset sat back in the captain's seat and couldn't help but sigh as well.

"Something on your mind?" The ship's captain, Fredrik Ades, said while walking onto the bridge with two drinks in his hand.

Rau gratefully took one of them. "Yeah. How are the pilots coping?"

"Not well; except for your boys most of them are either some form of denial."

"Oh?"

"That video you made was a little too good." Fredrik took a sip of his drink. "It made the Naturals seem unbeatable."

"Ask the Reds and they'll tell you they really are." Rau chuckled at that remark from one of the ship's operators; according to Fredrik they had watched the battle between the stolen Gundams and the Strike (from the back of the room) with an odd mix of fascination, horror, and excitement.

"Well, I might have gone a little overboard, but I assure you, the training will be worth it."

"Do you think high command will push for those changes to the recruit training like you asked?"

"Probably not." Rau smiled. "Patrick is very stubborn; it's one of his good traits, after all."

…

As it so happens, Patrick Zala had the video censored even within the ZAFT military, under the belief that it would be harmful for troop morale; a part of him lamented the loss of such useful propaganda footage, but he consoled himself with the knowledge that a war fought under the belief that you will eventually lose is a war that should be avoided.

…

"And what do you think the Naturals are doing?" Fredrik asked with a small chuckle.

"Why, continue being xenophobic and useless, of course!" Rau said, and broke into full out laughter, not shared in its intensity by the rest of the bridge crew.

…

"Well, shit." Cipher muttered, looking at a discreet mail sent to him by Garcia, commander of the Artemis station.

The Earth Federation Army high command had released their video as a pure propaganda move (despite Garcia's suggestions) and as an end result almost nobody, in or out of the military, took it seriously.

Almost nobody, because the crew (especially the pilots) of the Artemis station now worshipped the Strangereal aces as if they were gods, and logged a truly staggering amount of simulation time trying to be like them.

…

[Some time later]

…

"What's up?" Ribbon asked a disgruntled Talisman.

"It's the rookies. They're refusing practice on moral grounds."

Cipher perked up. "Wait, what?"

"Yep. Something about not wanting to learn from a space monster." Talisman said, shrugging.

Blaze growled. "Makes sense, much as I hate to admit it." During the start of the Circum-Pacific war many Yuktobanian flight instructors in Osea were apprehended or detained in some way, on the simple basis of them being from nations at war with each other. Many Osean pilots also refused to fly in Yuktobanian skies and were arrested for insubordination, at least until the war got going in earnest.

Cipher had an expression that just screamed "dull surprise."

"So the rookies won't train to be better because they think anyone better than them are space monsters. I had no idea they wanted to die that quickly." He deadpans, before getting up.

"Where are you going?" Talisman asked as Cipher headed out of the officer lounge.

"To beat in some heads." He said before leaving.

…

"What? You want to run a live training exercise?" Natarle said with no small amounts of shock, while trading looks between Murrue and Mu.

Both of them shrugged in response.

"I'm worried about the state of readiness of our loan pilots from Artemis." Cipher sounded more diplomatic than normal, Mu noted.

Murrue shrugged again after giving the idea a minute of consideration. "We're currently not being pursued, so I don't see why not."

"Captain…!" Natarle started, before Cipher cut her off.

"Thank you Captain Ramius; we'll get the boys ready right away." He said as he left the office, much too quickly.

"Are you sure about this?" Natarle said, almost accusingly.

Murrue blinked. "It'll be a good way to get the rookies some experience; so why not?"

…

"Why are we learning from a Coordinator?" A rookie asked another.

"Because he's got the captain in his pocket." Came the laughing reply.

"His pants, more like." Said another.

"Cut the chatter, and get focused." Cipher said sharply.

"Sorry, _sir_." The rookies said, their tone indicating absolutely zero respect.

Cipher sighed inwardly. "We will now begin our combat training; get ready."

…

Cipher seethed inwardly. _Damn you, Garcia, you and your nuggets. No wonder Artemis blew to pieces._

And it was as he saw: the rookies had serious issues just trying to keep their units pointed in the right direction, and often they nearly flew into each other or couldn't use their vectored thrusts correctly, causing a lot of swearing on the lines and quite a few near-death accidents.

He finally couldn't take it anymore. "How did any of you earn your wings?"

"We were just transferred to Artemis before it was attacked, what did you expect, _sir_." Came a Rookie's accusatory reply.

"I was expecting you to do more than just shoot your damned mouth off." Cipher replied. This was really not his field of expertise.

"Sir, we're Naturals."

Cipher couldn't help but laugh at that one. "Oh! That's good! Is that what you want to hear when you die out here?" He then changed his tone to mock the young pilot. "You weren't meant to live, because you're a Natural and can't do anything, right?"

No response.

Cipher's voice changed once more. "Out here, there's no distinction between Naturals, Coordinators, Space Monsters, or whatever the hell you can think of. Right now, you are all pilots, flying under the same rules as everyone else. If you don't want to learn from someone not like you? Fine, then die out there on the battlefield with your pride." Cipher grinned, "If you think your complaints can save your asses from a real bullet, then go right on ahead and run your mouth until you die. If you have an actual pair of balls, then learn to fly like it; if it makes it any easier on you, treat me like I'm a goddamn Demon from hell. I don't care, as long as you can fly right."

A momentary pause, then…

"Sir," The rookie lacked his usual bravado. "Coordinators are better in every way, how do you expect us to beat them?"

"You fly to survive. If you can do that, then you can worry about winning." Cipher said, remembering some of the words spoken by a certain instructor in Belka. "And to survive, you have to fly with everything you've got. Not just your own abilities, but the abilities of your wingmen."

"Can't be a hero if you don't work alone." One of them said sulkily.

"Yeah." Cipher agreed. "But you're not out here to be a hero. If you do, then all you're going to do is die."

Silence.

"I'm done arguing the point." Cipher said after a few seconds. "If you think your pride can make you fly better, then prove it right here, right now. Otherwise, shut up and train like you mean it."

…

…

"Sounds like the problem is solved." Blaze said with a hint of skepticism in his voice.

"If they didn't believe us back at Artemis I don't see why they would start now. I guess Cipher's gonna have to pull ranks on them to get them to behave." Ribbon shook his head. "I know they're rookies, but are they really that undisciplined?"

"Eurasia and Atlantic branches of the EFA always had strained relations. I guess Garcia just dumped his worst pilots on us." Mu sighed. "Not to get sidetracked, but...Ribbon."

"Yes?"

"It would be an honor if you taught me everything you know." Mu said, begging with his hands. "Pretty please?" He added a wink at the end.

…

…

[Some days later]

…

…

"Know what this is about?"

"Not a clue."

Mu and Ribbon were swapping theories as to what the sudden summons for all the officers was about; theories ranged from "Birthday party" to "Natarle baked a cake for everyone."

The two had been in the simulator for the better part of a few hours so they were both rather hungry.

…

"We're here, captain. What's the news?" Mu said, saluting once he got onto the bridge.

"We picked up an emergency signal beacon." Murrue said, nodding towards Miriallia.

"From where?" Kira asked. (Mu had passed by him on the way and dragged him to the bridge, despite Kira not being an officer).

"From the debris belt." Miriallia replied. The Debris belt was, as the name implied, a ring of space junk left over from humanity's exertions in space. (Technically it was more of a sphere, but since the majority of the junk was orbiting around the equator most people just call it a belt instead).

"We're not going into there, are we?" Mu asked with raised eyebrows.

"We're not." Murrue shook her head. "We need to rendezvous with the 8th fleet and we're still being pursued; the detour will take us too long and give ZAFT the chance to catch up. However…"

"We can't just let someone die in space." Kira finished for her, looking grim. Murrue nodded.

"That said, there is always the chance of the beacon being a dud." Natarle interjected, earning her a blank look from some people in the process. "It is a possibility, no matter how remote."

Murrue sighed. "She's right, which is also why we can't take a detour, which is why we're all here right now."

"We're going to send a detachment?" Mu's eyebrows almost melted into his hair.

Murrue nodded. "That's the idea; any takers?"

"Um…" Miriallia started to say, catching everyone's attention. "The signal is also coming from a ZAFT ship, if that matters any."

"ZAFT ship?" Ribbon voiced everyone's confusion. "What's a ZAFT ship doing in the belt in one piece?"

Everyone looked around at one another in mild confusion, before something clicked in Kira's head.

"I'll go." He said. "The Strike has greater operational range than the Moebius or the Zero."

"Ooh! Good for you, kid. What if this is an ambush?" Mu said, fake jovialness in his voice.

"Well…have him tow the Zero in?" Ribbon mused. "It'll save the problem of him not having a wingman."

"That's true, and…wait! Why am I going?" Mu sounded shocked.

…

"Loading spare batteries onto the Zero."

"Mu La Flaga, roger. Sheesh…"

Mu sat in the Moebius Zero's cockpit, watching a large oversized energy canister (dubbed batteries by the uncreative staff) be dragged through the loading dock for attaching to one of his hardpoints, leaving him with two gunbarrels instead of the usual complement of four.

With a little creative engineering, Murdoch was able to fashion a crude system for energy transfer between two compact batteries, allowing the Strike to "refuel" in flight without the use of another Strike Pack. The fact that it actually fitted onto the Zero (Murdoch had made it as a sort of a hobby) was only an added bonus.

"Sir?"

"Ah, nothing." Mu forgot that Miriallia could hear him.

"Lieutenant La Flaga." He heard Murrue say.

"Yes, captain?"

"Well…you know what's in the debris belt; be careful, and watch Kira's back."

"Not gonna tell me to watch mine?" Mu laughed slightly.

"I think you'll be just fine." Murrue said, a little frostily.

…

A short while later, he was watching the Sword Strike's engine running in front of him while being towed by a grapple cable.

…

"La Flaga, sir?" He heard Kira over a private line.

"No need for the sir; what's on your mind?" Mu was glad for a little company; the flight was going to be fairly long, after all.

"Is there something unusual in the debris belt?"

Mu went to stroke his chin but found his helmet in the way. "Not really? There's trash, maybe unexploded ordnance, and pirates. Beyond that it's pretty normal."

Kira momentarily wondered what definition of "normal" Mu had.

"Why did you ask? Worried about something?"

"Yeah, well…Heliopolis was a neutral colony, so we could get satellite TV from PLANT."

Mu wasn't sure where this was going, so he didn't respond.

"And, well, I heard once that ZAFT makes routine trips to remains of Junius Seven as a part of some program they had."

Mu sat up straight (as straight as he could under the circumstances).

"So you're thinking that this crippled ship belongs to one of those expeditions?"

"Yeah." Kira said with a small nod to himself.

Mu's mind was racing. _If the kid is right, then that ship has the high possibility of containing someone valuable to the ZAFT top brass, especially if this trip is done right now for political reasons within their own government. But if he's dead, then there's a good chance the EFA's going to be blamed for killing a noncombatant. _He then mentally shrugged. _Given that the EFA's greatest claim to fame is nuking a farming colony I can't see how ZAFT's propaganda machine could spin it any worse._

"Alright, head there at maximum thrust; I want to be back before the day is over." Mu commanded.

"Roger!"

…

…

"I wish I could've gone with them." Tolle said, slightly wistfully. "It would've been my first mission, too."

"Not a good omen to visit a graveyard on your first trip." Talisman said lightly.

"Yeah, but it would've been good experience anyways." Tolle sighed.

Once again, Talisman was stuck babysitting the teenagers on the ship (given age similarities). If nothing else it gave him an idea of what the moral support around Kira was like, and it gave him a reason to slack off, which was good.

New this time was a girl with long red hair. A little inquisition later told him that she was Flay Allster, Sai's girlfriend (through arranged marriage) and the hottest girl back in Heliopolis, based on the relatively small sample size of one.

Which, honestly, told him very little about her personality, and forced him to extrapolate based on what he knew about the Allster family instead.

"Sai, why is Kira flying that machine? Isn't he a student like us?" Flay asked.

"He's made a pledge to protect us and help end this war; in our own way, we're going to help him right back, because he's our friend." Sai responded.

According to what Talisman could gain from various news outlets, the Allster's head of household, George Allster, was quite famous with his reputation as a family man in a political climate rife with people trumpeting their family purity, and had gained a little bit of bemused notoriety for his near-constant doting of his daughter. _This implies that Flay here might be spoiled rotten. _Talisman thought worriedly. _Spoiled rotten on love and not a small amount of problematic ideology._

"Well, yeah, but…isn't he a Natural? How could he fly something like that without any training?" Flay asked.

"Being a Natural isn't a justification; what really matters is your skills, and how willing you are to compensate for your weaknesses." Talisman said idly, not really paying attention.

"Huh?"

He sighed. "Kira has been practicing almost constantly ever since he decided to fight. Add on the fact that he is a Coordinator and, frankly, I'm not worried about him at all." _The rookies, on the other hand…_

"Kira's a Coordinator?! Aren't we fighting the Coordinators?!" Flay exclaimed, dropping her voice to a hiss as if it was some great secret.

"On the surface, sure." Talisman said. "But very rarely are wars motivated by just plain hatred; there needs to be some reason for declaring war." He stared directly at Flay, who immediately began fidgeting under his gaze. "There's no such thing as a war where one side is perfectly evil and another perfectly good, girly."

Flay flinched a little. "But…but dad said that all Coordinators are evil."

"You've seen Kira. Would you say he's evil?" Talisman asked.

Flay slowly shook her head. "No…he's nice and polite, if a little weird sometimes."

"Yeah. It's never a good idea to believe that all people on the other side are evil; remember that the war started because the Naturals decided to nuke a colony." He stared at her again. "If you were to meet a Coordinator aside from Kira, how do you plan to convince them that you are, in fact, not an inhuman monster?"

Flay didn't have an answer, and instead mumbled something under her breath.

"So, uh, Talisman." Sai said, trying to change the subject since it seemed like Flay was about to cry. "What do you think the reason for the start of the war was?"

_Before Bloody Valentine? _"It's hard to say, actually." Talisman said after a moment of thought. "The EFA had no reason to invade a series of colonies, especially when Earth has more resources overall, a higher standard of living, and generally better conditions." He shrugged. "I say it was because the EFA high command was insane; I hope they died fast and early, otherwise we're all fighting a war for someone else's personal feelings."

…

…

[A few hours later]

…

…

"Kira, I'll give you the updated coordinates to the signal, hold on a minute."

Kira patiently waited for a minute.

"What the…the ship has moved more than expected."

"It's a trap after all?" Mu muttered, releasing the grapple from the Strike and coiling it back onto the Moebius Zero.

"It could have just hit some debris." Kira said, but he unhooked the oversized sword from the Strike's back just in case.

"You're going into the debris belt, please be careful." Miriallia said.

…

There was enough space between debris to comfortably fly a mobile suit around.

…

"There it is." Kira said after a few minutes of following the signal coordinates sent by Miriallia (the Strike's receiver would actively ping whichever ship was using an SOS signal, effectively ruining the element of surprise, thus it was turned off) and had finally found a ship that looked to be intact enough to do anything useful. It was also being guarded by two GINNs.

"I think we found our target." Mu muttered upon seeing the two GINNs. He unhooked the spare battery (as he saw it) and placed a signal flare on it.

The GINNs lifted their machine guns to face the new threats, before one of them suddenly had his head replaced by a sword. The second GINN fired a few shots at the Strike in retaliation (since the Strike threw its oversized sword at the first GINN and was effectively weapon-less) and turned as a missile from the Zero caught its attention.

Mu then almost gasped in surprise as the GINN suddenly rocketed upwards while firing its forward-facing thrusters, causing it to fly over the missile while flipping around to face said missile. It then destroyed the missile with a burst of machine gun fire.

"Damn, looks like we have an ace on our hands." Mu seethed, rolling out of the way of a retaliatory burst of first from the GINN he had just fired at before he had to roll once more to dodge a burst of fire from the headless GINN, which had jettisoned its head connector (which was still attached to the oversized sword) and was now fighting without its main camera. _Make that two of them._ He thought as he heard a metallic ping from one of the GINN machine gun rounds scraping his Zero.

Kira, meanwhile, was sorely missing the Aile Strike's beam rifle. He had chased down the GINN's head and retrieved his oversized sword, and had now powered it up, a beam of power acting as the cutting edge for the sword. He then charged full speed towards the second (still-whole) GINN, bringing his sword down for an overhead strike.

The whole GINN spun quickly and boosted out of the slash to deliver a roundhouse-ish kick to the Strike's side with the momentum of the spin. It then brought out a pair of knives and neatly jammed them into the Strike's arm section, causing the Phase Shift Armor to crackle and removing the arm's ability to do anything useful.

"Whoa! Damn!" Kira, though taught by the Aces of Strangereal, was still inexperienced in actual hand-to-hand combat with mobile suits, as he had nobody to teach him.

"Kid! I got your back!" Mu fired a few shots from his linear gun near the whole GINN, but it didn't budge an inch. _Figured a move like that wouldn't work on an ace. _He then had to focus his attention on the headless GINN, as it had maneuvered above him.

Mu fired a grapple at a nearby piece of debris and nosed-up hard, bringing that debris into the GINN like a wrecking ball, knocking said GINN off-balance. Mu then detached his grappling hook while taking several pot shots at the headless GINN (while the GINN fired back aimlessly), reorienting himself to set up for another attack.

Kira tried to hit the GINN pinning his arm with his knee but missed, as the GINN rocketed out of the way (knives still stuck in the Strike's arm) and counterfired by spraying the Strike with a pair of machine guns.

Mu rolled and sharply pulled his Zero to bring his gun to bear on the still-whole GINN, but before he could even stabilize his threat alarm told him that the headless GINN was firing at him, forcing him to dodge out of the way again.

"Dying in a graveyard, this isn't even remotely funny!" Mu gritted his teeth, and released his Gunbarrels.

He aimed his Gunbarrels at both GINNs and fired away while dodging the spray of fire from the headless GINN.

…

Meanwhile, on a ZAFT ship bound for the debris belt…

"Sir, we're receiving a lot of heat signatures from a location within the debris belt, it's very close to where the ship disappeared." The operator said, after spending some time listening intently to his headphones.

The captain of the ship nodded. "Acknowledged; Mr. Zala," he looked at Athrun, who fidgeted a little upon being referred to as such (he was here as a representative of the ZAFT government instead of as a military officer, thus his status as the son of a top official trumped his rank). "Do you think Miss Clyne is being attacked?"

_I don't think a civilian ship could defend itself against an enemy attack for this long. _Athrun mused. "Let's hope not, but it's best to not rely on just hope; how quickly can the ship get to that location?"

"It's fairly deep within the debris belt, and we can't dive in too quickly." The captain said.

Athrun grimaced. "Ok; then I'll deploy in the GINN; head to that location at top speed."

"Roger. And, Athrun," The captain was a family friend, after all. "Don't get in over your head."

Athrun smiled slightly. "I won't."

…

"Son of a…he fights just like those guys!" Mu snarled as he pulled another high-G maneuver to dodge a spray of fire from the headless GINN that was getting more and more accurate. "Are you alright there, kid?!" Mu yelled over the warning alarms telling him that his Vernier thrusters were starting to overheat from the strain.

"Yeah!" Kira felt his body shake from yet another kick from the GINN he was up against. "These guys are really good!"

_Well, no shit, kid. _Mu couldn't help but think.

Kira was a better ranged fighter: the Aces of Strangereal had taught him that much. Every hit he's gained so far on the GINN (with his head-mounted guns) was when he was fighting at range. The pilot of the unit had realized that quite early and as a result had moved into super short ranged combat, combining kicks and punches along with well-positioned dagger stabs to the Strike's joints; at this point the Strike's cockpit was blaring with warnings about joint damage despite the Phase Shift armor's protective properties.

Mu, on the other hand, was locked in a shooting duel with the Headless GINN. A lot of fire was being exchanged between the Moebius Zero and the GINN but due to maneuvering, debris, and the fact that the GINN was missing its main camera, neither side scored any serious hits.

Kira had long since abandoned the oversized sword that came with the Sword Strike, favoring the smaller but nimbler Armor Schneider knives instead. However, due to his lack of experience he simply couldn't bring them about fast enough to do any serious work.

After a few minutes of Kira getting punched and knifed in the everywhere repeatedly over and over again, he found himself face to face with the GINN's knife, held pointed at his cockpit section, while his Phase Shift Armor happily informed him of its end of operation.

Suddenly, the GINN flashed something with a light on the head.

"A truce?" Mu said, after his Zero's computer had deciphered the message. "Why would they ask for a truce? They were kicking our ass." Mu wondered, and pulled his Gunbarrels back.

"I don't think they're ZAFT units." Kira said, calming down and finally getting a good look at the units in question: The GINN still with his head attached was painted a mixed hue of black and blue, had oversized shoulders signifying increased mobility and performance, and most importantly it was missing the notable fin on the head like most GINNs. The one that had its head blown off was a normal GINN in design, but it had one of its arms colored a bright red, almost as if it was a replacement arm from a different piece.

"Well, it's good to know that we're not going to die out here." Mu said dryly.

…

Once the two pilots had docked with the ship (parked next to it and gotten out) they went inside the ship, which was surprisingly well furnished and in pretty good condition, damage aside. Good enough condition for the two of them to remove their helmets while inside.

"Ah! You two must be the newcomers. I hope my friends didn't give you too much trouble." A girl's voice greeted them once they got into a room in the center of the ship.

She had long, flowy pink hair, a white dress, a very pleasant expression, and a small bundle of pink annoyance bouncing around her heels.

"HELLO! HELLO!" It said, flapping its ears wildly while half bouncing and half floating around.

"Hello, uh, and you are…" Mu said hesitantly.

"Lacus Clyne. Nice to meet you, sir." The girl said with a deep bow.

"Clyne…?! So you're Sigil Clyne's daughter?" Mu was shocked.

"Do you know my father?" Lacus asked with a very pleasant expression on her face.

"Ah, well, not exactly." Mu scratched his head. _The girl's not very attuned to the politics side of things, I see._

"Uh, Mu, who's Sigil Clyne?" Kira asked.

"One of the big brass in ZAFT, and one of the more moderate ones." Said someone behind him.

"Ah! Mr. Mercenary, I hope you weren't injured." Lacus said, upon seeing who it was behind them.

Mu wheeled around to see the man that had almost singlehandedly killed both of them. The man he thought Lacus was referring to had unkempt black hair, an EFA uniform (unbuttoned at the top), and large, large glasses.

"I guess that uniform makes you a deserter, huh." Mu remarked.

The man didn't answer, only gazed at Kira with an impartial expression.

"Don't mind him; he's not very friendly even on the best of days." The second man said, with short blonde hair, small crooked grin and a friendly extended hand, which Mu took. "Nice shooting back there, taking my head off with a sword like that." He said to Mu.

Mu pointed to Kira. "He's the culprit, I'm innocent."

The man's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Ah, well, your hit with the grapple was pretty good all the same."

Mu laughed. "Only because you kept stopping everything else I did; where did you learn to fly like that?"

The man's grin widened in response. "It'll take a while..."

…

"So what's a princess of ZAFT doing all the way out here?" Mu asked, after the group had made a little bit of small talk.

"I was on a memorial trip to Junius Seven, before the ship was ambushed by pirates." Lacus said. "If it wasn't for the assistance of these mercenaries here I don't know what could have happened." She said, following it up with a small bow towards the mercenaries in question.

Mystery mercenary number two waved it off. "We were paid for the contract, nothing to be surprised about."

"So who would hit a girl?" Mu mused to himself, mostly.

"Someone looking to extend the war, most likely." The second man said, scowling. "I wouldn't put it past them to assassinate a peaceful ZAFT envoy and try to blame the EFA for it."

"Well, knowing our top brass, it would be more of a kidnapping mission instead." Mu muttered, not a hint of a joke in his voice.

"What do you plan to do now?" The first mercenary suddenly asked.

"We came here looking for a distress signal, and we found it." Mu said. "So I suppose we could go back empty handed, but it wouldn't explain the battle damage."

"And we can't part with the princess either, since the job is to get her back to her daddy safe and sound." The second mercenary said. "How 'bout you guys stick around for a while, until one of our ships get here?"

"Then you get your pay and we get our alibi. Perfect!" Mu said. "Got anything to do while we're waiting?"

"I got some cards, if you're interested." The grin came out again.

Kira and Lacus, meanwhile, retreated to some plush chairs bolted to ground and started talking, with a fair amount of fumbling on Kira's part.

…

…

"Mr. Zala, we're not picking up the signs of battle anymore; be careful." Athrun heard over the communications.

"Roger." Athrun acknowledged. _Don't be dead, Lacus…!_

He then pressed his High Mobility GINN to go faster, navigating through the debris field with relative ease.

…

It wasn't very long afterwards until Athrun came across a most peculiar sight: The Strike, colored grey, a headless GINN, and the orange Moebius craft were unmoving next to a relatively intact ship bearing ZAFT markings.

_If I strike now I could destroy both of them. But what if Kira's inside the Strike right now? _He thought for a second to himself.

That second was immediately punctured by a lock warning.

Athrun hesitated for a split second, and that second was enough for him to feel his unit shake.

"Damn!" Athrun throttled his engines to full and climbed for a brief moment before rapidly and suddenly decelerating to hopefully throw off the attacker (which he still hasn't seen).

He then suddenly felt cold in his stomach, and pulled out his sword almost in reflex.

That reflex meant he suddenly heard the sound of metal on metal as his sword collided with a solid something, and he finally could see his assailant: a piece of ship debris.

Athrun gritted his teeth and forced himself to focus, and then accelerated rapidly downwards, spiraling away from the debris.

"You're decent. Only decent." He heard over the general line, and came face to face with a customized GINN aiming a pair of machine guns at him. "I assume you're here for the same reason as the EFA?"

Athrun took a calming breath while his mind worked overtime. "I'm here in search of a MIA civilian ship; if you goals are the same, then we've no reason to fight."

The GINN lowered its gun. "So be it; come to the ship."

…

…

Athrun walked into the gathering room, still seething at his performance, despite his hours of practicing.

The first thing he heard was two people saying his name in surprise, and looked up.

Kira Yamato, his childhood friend, and Lacus Clyne, his fiancée, were both looking at him with surprise and no small amount of joy.

"Kira…Lacus! What…" Athrun was a little too shocked to be happy. "Kira! What are you doing here?"

"We received a distress signal from this ship, so the two of us were sent to check it out." An EFA Officer he doesn't know said, looking very relaxed. Athrun's hand twitched to his gun holstered at his side. "Easy there, kid. We're here to save lives, not end them; I'm fine with not fighting over that." The man said.

Athrun calmed down. "Uh, right." He then turned to Lacus. "Are you ok?"

Lacus nodded, smiling. "Yes, thanks to these nice mercenaries I'm perfectly fine."

Athrun looked at the man leaning against the wall and the man sitting down with some cards in his hand, and bowed slightly. "I give you my thanks for protecting her."

The man sitting down tapped a card, watching it flip over and over in his hand. "No problem, kid; is she someone important?"

Athrun didn't answer; the question was simply too odd.

"Kid. Why do you fight?" The man leaning against the wall said. Kira pointed to himself in confusion, before noticing that the man was focused on Athrun.

"Why…to get revenge for Junius Seven!" Athrun said, a little too automatically for his own liking. Then, almost as if in justification, "the Naturals destroyed a civilian colony and killed millions of innocent people! I can't just let them get away with that!"

"But the Coordinators…no, ZAFT." Mu said, correcting himself for a moment. "Wrecked the Earth's ability to produce power and indirectly killed just as many people in response."

"If you didn't attack us that wouldn't have happened." Athrun said sharply.

"True." Mu shrugged. "Coordinators as a whole have a reason to hate Naturals, but that doesn't justify why you personally fight."

Athrun seethed. "My mother was on Junius Seven. Is that reason enough, you damned Natural?!"

"Athrun." Kira started to say, before Mu cut him off.

"Yeah, plenty. So when do you plan to stop fighting?"

"When I've avenged my mother."

"Interesting. You've killed a lot of my comrades, you know. That should give me enough reason to chase you into hell itself. And let's not forget the fact that you were also responsible for trashing a colony in response. Do you think you should die for our revenge?" Mu shrugged. "Do you think the war would end after you got your vengeance?"

Athrun opened his mouth to retort.

The second mercenary holding the cards sighed. "It's so much easier to fight when you're just doing it for the money; are we here to argue or to get the lady home?"

Mu's expression softened. "Just trying to make a point."

Athrun looked at Kira. "Why do you fight, Kira?"

Kira looked at Athrun. "To stop this war; I don't have as deep of an emotional reason as you do, Athrun," Athrun remembered that Kira's relationship with his parents were distant, at best. "But…I've seen what this war is, and I can't just turn away and hope that it will end soon."

Lacus looked at them both. "Athrun…if you fight for hatred, will you stop once your hatred is quenched?"

Athrun sighed. "I don't know. But I do know one thing. I do plan to fight."

The first mercenary rapped his knuckles against the wall, getting their attention. "Philosophical debate later, decide what you need to do now."

Athrun shook his head. "Right; There's a ZAFT ship nearby, I can take Lacus back with me."

"We've got a ship coming too, y'know, and we're getting paid to get her home safe and sound." The second mercenary said, packing up his cards.

"She's a ZAFT civilian, thus it's only right that the military recovers her." Athrun said.

"Just between all of us here…" The second man said, pretending to whisper. "Our contractor has implied that someone within ZAFT might want your princess gone."

Athrun looked shocked. "What? Why?"

"Because she's practically a poster child for peace." Mu suddenly said. Kira looked at him. "Think about it; the innocent and pure girl of a moderate ZAFT politician gets assassinated on a memorial trip to Junius Seven. A story like this is going to power the ZAFT war machine for ages!"

"As if Junius Seven wasn't enough." Athrun mumbled; Mu's story was plausible, though Athrun was drawing a blank on who would want to escalate the war further.

"Well…who would want to kill her within ZAFT, though?" Kira said, looking at Lacus, who was playing with the pink annoying thing that had demanded for her attention.

"The more extreme factions." Mu mused. "But it could also backfire horribly; if ZAFT goes on a murderous rampage and starts a genocide, they stand to lose their platform for the war immediately."

"Lastly it could have been just a pirate attack, although I don't think the ship would be in such a state if it was." Kira said, looking at the mercenaries.

"We only got here after the attack was underway; as soon as the attackers saw us they turned tail and ran." The second mercenary said with a shrug.

"In any case, it would be best if Lacus went with the mercenaries; the risk of there being a possible opposing faction aboard that ZAFT ship Athrun's with is too high." Kira mused.

"Kira…!" Athrun felt like his best friend should've taken his side.

"Athrun, I've been feeling it for a while now, but…this war is weird." Kira said hesitantly.

"Weird." Athrun deadpans.

"Yeah, as if…"

"There's someone else behind the wheels, right?" The second mercenary said. Kira nodded.

"So please be careful out there, Athrun; don't get yourself killed."

Athrun looked at his friend with a bemused expression on his face. "You do realize we're on opposite sides here, right?"

Kira shrugged. "Well, as far as I can see, ZAFT can't touch me out there, so I'll be fine. You, on the other hand…"

Athrun frowned. "This isn't like the Kira I know and don't love. You used to be so mature and gracious, what happened?"

Kira grinned. "Blame it on a demon lord trying to kill me every day in the simulators."

He didn't see the second mercenary look up upon hearing that name.

"The hell's that supposed to be?" Athrun laughed.

The two friends, for a moment, briefly forgot (or willingly ignored) the fact that they will be trying to kill each other again as soon as they go their separate ways.

…

[A few moments later]

…

"Kira…don't die on me." Athrun said as a goodbye.

"Yeah, same to you." Kira frowned.

The two friends parted ways, with Athrun leaving first to report back to his ship.

As he left, he saw a shuttle pull nearby to the stranded ship and hide itself behind a wall of debris.

"Our ride's here, we need to leave as well." The first mercenary said, standing up straight.

"Sure thing, Gai. Give me a moment." The second mercenary said, getting Kira's attention.

"You said you know a guy called "Demon Lord", right?"

"Uh, yeah." Kira said, surprised.

"Actually…" The man had a slight smile on his face. "Nevermind. I'm sure I'll meet him soon enough; stay alive out there, young man."

.

.

.

{ === Author Notes === }

It's oddly difficult to communicate the "Polite yet friendly" tone that Japanese honorifics seem to confer without resorting to honorifics.

If you guys have any tips I'm happy to listen. '~';


	5. Stage 5 - Angel

Kira refueled from the spare energy tank the Zero was dragging around, and set his course back to the Archangel.

Mu opened a communication line to the Archangel.

"This is the Archangel; Lieutenant La Flaga, is everything alright?" Miriallia asked.

"Yeah, we're fine. We found something interesting back on the ship. We'll let you guys know once we get back."

"Did you recover it?" Natarle asked despite herself.

"Nah. Too much trouble." Mu laughed, and closed the line, leaving Natarle to seethe silently on the bridge.

…

"Athrun, did you get Miss Clyne back?"

"Negative. She's going home on a different ship, though." Athrun said, a slight tone of defeat in his voice.

"What? Why?" The captain asked despite himself.

"Apparently there was an independent team sent by her father to find her; I think they should report the good news." Athrun said, and then felt a minor tremor in his unit. _Hope the engines stay alive. _He thought idly.

…

…

"Now, Mu La Flaga." Natarle said, all semblance of respecting rank forgotten. "Explain."

Kira gave him a look that plainly said "You're on your own."

"We found someone interesting aboard the ship from ZAFT. That certain someone happened to be the child of a high-ranking ZAFT official; we met with" Mu hesitated for a brief moment "him and the mercenaries hired to guard him, and then we let him go home." He emphasized the end of his story with a flourish of his arms. "Easy as that."

"You could've recovered him onto our ship, Lieutenant…Commander, La Flaga." Natarle had reeled herself back from the brink of extreme anger just in the nick of time.

"Sounds like you wanted to take a hostage." Talisman said lightly, looking at a remarkable spot on the wall. Natarle glared at him.

"I believe that an EFA ship would be better equipped for caring for a civilian than a mercenary one." She said stiffly.

"Right." Cipher had the barest hint of a disbelieving chuckle in his voice. "What's done is done; the two of you should get some rest, we're going to rendezvous with the 8th fleet in a few days."

"Yeah! Finally, no more sitting on pins and needles." Mu said with a fist-pump. "What's the status on the ZAFT followers we got?"

"They don't seem to be pursuing us with the same determination as before." Natarle was unhappy that her opinion was just tossed aside, but she took it in stride all the same. "However, the 8th fleet has reported that a ZAFT fleet is just within their detection radius, so they're expecting the worst."

"And that's why you told us to rest." Mu sighed, his previous happiness replaced by an exaggerated sadness. "Why don't we get a break?"

Cipher grinned. "You do. It starts now and ends tomorrow."

…

…

"Athrun, Sigil Clyne sends his thanks for your efforts to save his daughter." Rau Le Cruset said, after Athrun had debriefed him on the situation back in the debris belt. "It would have been better had you escorted her home personally, you know."

Athrun nodded. "I am expected to be in the front lines, after all; I cannot, in good conscience, escort a lady home and immediately go to slaughter others."

"How noble of you." Rau smirked slightly. "What else did you find in the debris belt?"

Athrun took a deep breath. "If it isn't much trouble, I would like you, sir, to oversee the training of the Cruset team.

Rau Le Cruset blinked in surprise. "Really? Is the data not enough?"

Athrun grimaced. "As I have experienced…no, sir."

Rau smiled. "Ok. I'll be there shortly."

…

…

[Next day]

…

…

The Archangel, a lone, bright white ship (with red and blue markings and unusual design) floated inside a nest of ships that look nothing like it, outlining it as a bright target telling everyone who to shoot once the shooting starts.

"Archangel, welcome to the 8th fleet." A man said, saluting Lieutenant Commander Murrue Ramius over the main screen.

"It's an honor, sir." Murrue saluted back, before blinking in surprise as the picture was replaced by one of a man in a suit trying to squeeze himself through the camera.

"Where's my baby girl?!" He demanded.

Murrue had a sort of a frowny smile on her face, as if to say "oh dear."

Flay Allster rushed aboard the bridge. "Daddy!"

Cipher tuned out their happy family reunion banter. "What happens now?" He asked Blaze.

Blaze stared at the picture of the ZAFT fleet that they had requested for. "Now? We pray ZAFT loses their balls and leaves us alone for two weeks."

…

…

Rau Le Cruset had coordinated strategies with the fleet commander of the 17th fleet, which was tasked to tail the 8th fleet and make sure it wasn't going anywhere. Prior to the joining of the Archangel into the 8th fleet there wasn't much action between the two apart from some sporadic trading of long distance fire.

The 17th Fleet commander, incidentally, had received an order from ZAFT high command to sink the 8th fleet. Being a man who has seen the video Cruset made and recognizing the hints behind it, he was glad of any support he could get against the so-called Demonic Moebius crafts.

Rau, on the other hand, was told to ignore the 8th fleet and focus entirely on sinking the Archangel, and wasted no energy pretending to care about the maneuvers of the allied ZAFT fleet in his plans.

…

…

…

Murdoch watched the new crafts get loaded unto the Archangel with no small amount of glee.

"What are those things?" Sai, who was assisting Kira with something on the Strike, asked.

"FX-550 Skygrasper. The next-gen answer in air-to-air combat. They pack missiles, guns, beams, and hardpoints for the Strike packs." Murdoch looked like he was about to cry manly, manly tears.

_I don't think any Earth Alliance fighter is a match against ZAFT mobile suits, though. _Sai thought.

Ribbon was watching from his perch on the topmost levels of the hangar, regarding the Skygraspers with no small amount of distain.

"What do you think about these new crafts?" He heard Mu ask behind him.

"Not flying it." Ribbon deadpans; the fighters reminded him of a Mig-21 with large engines taped to the wing tips, and he wasn't sure if they would fly with the mobility needed for air to air supremacy combat.

"What? Not to your taste?" Mu laughed. He personally was looking forward to flying in one.

"It looks…well, it looks like it could be outmaneuvered by a Foxhound." Ribbon grumbled. Mu wasn't sure what a Foxhound is but he guessed from Ribbon's tone that it was not a good thing.

"Well, give it a chance once we get into the atmosphere." He said, and then gestured to a dozen or so fighters being moved into their hangar spots. "You can always fly those things."

"Those things" Mu was referring to were F-7D Spearhead fighters; larger wings, nose-mounted control surfaces, and a large, boxy body. Spearheads were the predecessors to the FX-550 Skygraspers that Murdoch was salivating over. The two crafts shared the ability to perform Vertical take-Off and Landing (VTOL) maneuvers, and Ribbon was personally looking forward to flying the Spearheads, even if they lacked the beam munitions mounted on the top of the craft.

"I'm just not sure if that Skygrasper can turn at all." Ribbon sighed.

Mu shrugged. "Fly hard, shoot straight." He then turned to see Murdoch walking over to them with a huge grin on his face.

"Hey, Ribbon! I'm guessing the four of you'll be flying the Spearheads?" He said. Ribbon nodded. "Wonderful!" Murdoch grinned. "Got any customization ideas you want us to try out?"

Mu looked at Ribbon's devious smile, and then looked at the Spearheads, and then briefly wondered if the Earth Federation's mobile suit will never get off the ground because of these four plane-happy pilots.

…

…

The Fleet captain of the EFA's 8th fleet, a certain Rear Admiral Lewis Halberton, looked at a display of the ZAFT fleet tailing them with worry.

"Sir, do you think they'll try an attack?" One of the bridge operators asked despite herself.

Halberton sighed slightly, "Were I in their position, I would. How long until we reach optimal insertion point over JOSH-A?" JOSH-A (Pronounce Joshua) is the Earth Alliance Headquarters, and the final destination of the Archangel.

"About four hours, sir."

_So they'll attack once we start the drop. _Halberton thought. "Good."

…

…

Blaze looked up as he heard Miriallia over the Archangel's speakers.

"All pilots are hereby ordered to stand by for launch. Repeat, all pilots are hereby ordered to stand by for launch…"

"Stand by? Are we getting attacked?" Talisman wondered.

"A ship is weakest when it's leaving orbit and heading into the Earth." Kira said by ways of an explanation; he had already changed into his pilot suit a little while ago, and was talking to Tolle, who was also in a pilot suit.

"Tolle." Talisman started. Tolle shook his head.

"I'm a pilot too." Upon request, the Archangel received another Moebius craft for Tolle to use from the 8th fleet.

"Does…she know about this?" Talisman asked hesitantly.

Tolle didn't answer, but paled just a tiny bit.

"Tolle." Blaze looked at the young man in the eyes. "If we get a launch order, what do you plan to do?"

Tolle stared back at him. "Fly hard, shoot straight, and stay away from a knife fight."

Blaze nodded. "You'll do fine then, kid." He briefly wondered where Tolle learned that last euphemism.

…

[Fifteen minutes until point of descent]

…

"All Archangel units are hereby cleared to launch; your orders are to protect the ship." Blaze heard over the communications.

"You heard the lady. All units stay near the Archangel until further orders." He said as his Moebius was catapulted into space.

"Razgriz two, roger." Cipher.

"Razgriz three, roger." Mobius One.

"Four, got it." Talisman.

"Hawk one, all right!" Mu La Flaga, leading a trio of amateur pilots and feeling a mixture of both confidence and utter terror for them.

"Strike one, ok." Kira Yamato was supported by a pair of pilots and Tolle.

Blaze had assigned the two of them squadron callsigns, but he was doubtful that they would actually use them. After all, Kira and Mu most often supported each other first and foremost.

…

Rau Le Cruset looked at the eighth fleet, with all of its deployable units fielded, waiting for an attack that they knew was coming.

_Well, the man was never complacent. _Rau thought. "Commence!"

…

…

"Warning! Warning! Cruise missiles incoming! All ships intercept!"

The space around the Federation 8th Fleet lit up with fire in anticipation of the waves of heat signatures closing into the fleet.

"Have the picket ships move closer to the fleet! We will protect the Archangel until it makes its descent!" Halberton commanded.

"Drake 2, 7! Nelson 4, 9! Check your positions!" The operator said, addressing four ships on the outermost layer of the formation.

"This is Drake two, we've been hit by enemy fire!" The operator for the ship said, as confused as the rest of the bridge crew on where the attacks came from.

"Hell, Nelson 6, our engine took a hit!" One of the ships on the other side of the formation suddenly said.

"Are the cruise missiles getting through?!" Halberton demanded.

"No sir, scanners are showing total interceptions." The operator said.

"What the hell is hitting us?!"

…

"Looks like the fleet's getting shelled to pieces." Cipher said, watching the outermost ships in the formation take a multitude of hits.

"Do you think it's the same thing they hit Artemis with?" Blaze wondered.

…

"First rounds of cooled fire, effective." The operator for the ZAFT fleet said, watching the readout from each and every GINN in the fleet.

"Good, prepare for round two of fire." The captain said.

The cooled fire in question is a stripped-down version of the cold fire cannons attached on the ships sent to Artemis; stripped down to be fired by GINNs and produced (very quickly) en masse, and not as effective.

The ZAFT plan was to mask the gun's fire signatures with cruise missile heat signatures, fooling the sensors of the EFA ships and causing them to miss the chance to evade.

The result was pretty effective, as far as the first wave was concerned several of the ships sustained damage to key components, and many others were hit for varying damage to their structure. The only saving grace for the EFA was the distance between the two fleets: ZAFT's penchant for using cruise missiles meant that they were at a distance their gunners were not used to, and the accuracy of their guns suffered as a result.

But as the fleet captain had reasoned, any lack of accuracy can be compensated by simply having more guns.

"Second wave, away!"

…

"Hmm?" An operator on the flagship squinted his eyes as he focused on the heat sensor display. He noticed that there were small blips apart from the large blots that were cruise missiles. "Shit…ZAFT's got a new weapon! There's way more heat spikes than missiles out there!"

"Have the picket ships deploy chaff shields!" Halberton commanded; Chaff shields was just a very fancy term for metallic scrap and garbage that gets forcibly ejected outside of a ship to give it some additional cover against attacks that can't be intercepted by the anti-air weapons.

The operator watched as the large blanket of debris sparked as the incoming fire from the ZAFT fleet found a target. The fact that the cloud was much, much larger than the ships in question avoided the man's mind. "Holy shit, they must have two whole fleets here." He breathed.

…

"Second wave, not effective! They found us out!" A ZAFT operator said, watching the display.

"Damn, a little too early for my tastes. All units! Move in and engage! All ships! Move in to melee combat! Sink the Natural fleet!"

…

"They're finally starting." Mobius one said, watching the sudden explosion of light coming towards the fleet. "I won't be surprised if they're aiming for us."

"Yeah. All planes, break!" Blaze ordered, and all the units, with the exception of the Razgriz squadron, lazed about the Archangel and didn't move.

"Planes? We're in space." One of the smart-aleck rookies said, before he was blown away by a ZAFT particle cannon shot.

"Strike four is down." Blaze said, watching the explosion where that Moebius craft used to be. "When we say break, you break, for god's sake." He then looked at the incoming blanket of blips on his radar. "Razgriz, change of plans. We're going to dance with the enemy for a little bit; all other crafts cover the Archangel." He received three affirmatives in reply and one very angry Natarle.

"Blaze, that's against orders!" She shouted.

"Yeah, yeah." Blaze could care less, given the numbers they were against. "Two, with me."

The four Aces of Strangereal accelerated to the edge of the fleet line along with the rest of the Moebius units in the fleet.

In no time at all the Razgriz found the front line of the ZAFT forces.

"Lock." Blaze, for what seems to be the first time in his memory of flying a Moebius craft, used a missile against a GINN. "Fox three!" A call that was echoed by the rest of the squadron.

…

"The hell…fox?" Mu wondered. "Where'd the fox come from?"

…

"Fox three! Fox three!" Mobius one was very glad that they opted for a load out with external pylons and lots of radar guided missiles. While the briefing and experience had suggested that the missiles wouldn't be effective in a battle of this scale, with almost a hundred units participating and most of the attention focused on the ships meant that anyone who wasn't focused on the lone Moebius would inevitably be hit.

Most GINN pilots, when faced with locks coming from enemy ships, guns, missiles, crafts, and sometimes the occasional friendly gun, aren't focused.

As a result, Mobius one was fairly certain that out of all of his missiles fired at least half of them found a mark.

"Wow, this is a bigger fur ball than Comona." He muttered under his breath, after dodging a streak of bullets and firing back (and missing) in return. "Four, you with me?"

"Right behind you;" Talisman had nailed the target that Mobius One had missed. "Where're we going?"

"We're going to pay that ship a visit." He said, looking at a ZAFT cruiser that had eagerly moved into close range combat with the rest of the EFA fleet; the rest of the ZAFT fleet was a fair distance behind it.

"Roger, three."

…

"Shit, this is bad." Blaze dodged a series of streaks, puffs, and everything else the ZAFT could throw at him and the unfortunate allies that happened to be near him. "Two, I could use a little help."

"Wish I can help ya, I really do." Cipher gritted his teeth, using his thrusters as best as he could to both evade the GINNs constantly trying to cut him to pieces and to get a good vantage point to fire back. "What's with these guys?!"

His consternation is well placed: as soon as Cipher and Blaze entered the battle field an utterly insane amount of attention was focused on taking down the two of them, to the point where several other Moebius crafts were able to kill a few GINNs with minimal effort.

The GINNs engaging the two aces were quite skilled, and dedicated themselves to making sure that neither Blaze nor Cipher could help each other and could never slow down to fire.

"Damn!" Blaze detached a pylon, using the ejection force to give himself a small kick to narrowly avoid a very close burst of fire. His counter fire – a burst of Vulcan bullets – did preciously little in response. "These guys are a lot better than the guys from before."

Between the attention aimed at them and the crossfire on the battlefield the two aces had a very limited amount of maneuverability. However, even with the limited mobility they were able to avoid taking a direct hit from any of the attacks, a feat not repeated by their EFA allies, who were, to put it politely, dying all over the place.

…

"Allied casualties at 30 percent." Halberton heard. "The Archangel will begin its descent in ten minutes."

…

"Captain! I, uh, request permission to join the battle!" Kira said, looking at the field of explosions and exchanged fire before him.

"Kira, you know what you have to do." Murrue said gently but firmly.

"I do, but…" Kira gritted his teeth. "I can't just sit here and watch people die!"

"I feel for ya, kid." Mu said, "But in a fight like that you're going to end up killing some ZAFT soldiers even if you don't want to. Are you prepared to do that?"

"Yes, I am." Kira said after a moment of deliberation.

"Very well." Murrue said, raising a hand to forestall Natarle's complaint. "Come back before we start the drop, alright?"

"Right!" Kira said, raising his engine output to maximum.

…

"What do we do?" Tolle asked in a flat tone.

"He kind of abandoned you, didn't he?" Mu chuckled. "Strike team, hold your positions; he can handle himself, you can't."

"Damn. Fine." Tolle's desire to get into battle was not shared by his squadmates.

…

"We're coming up to the ship, three." Talisman jinked hard out of the way of an incoming GINN's fire, returning the favor with a spray of Vulcan. "I'm also running dry out here."

"Yeah; we're going to light it up and then go home to tank." Mobius One acknowledged; it took extra energy to dodge incoming fire while flying at the ship in a battle of this scale, especially to dodge the shots that were flying in their general direction, but the end result was getting bigger and bigger on his screen.

…

"Two enemy Mobile Armor in front!" The unfortunate ZAFT ship officer said, having noticed them just now.

"Evasive maneuvers!" The captain ordered.

"There's not enough time!" The helmsman replied, instead of doing his job of trying to dodge.

…

"Guns!" Mobius One said, opening fire with all of his Vulcan gun ports, raking the top of the ship, hitting the bridge, catapult, and many exposed gun ports.

"Firing!" Talisman aligned himself to the center of the ship, facing the hangar entrance, and poured his ammunition into the ship.

The two fighters zipped away from the ship as it shook with several explosions on the inside.

"I guess we hit a sweet spot." Mobius One murmured, before turning his unit around. "Razgriz leader, you guys ok?"

"We're a lot of things, ok isn't one of them." Blaze shouted with his voice devoid of any panic.

"Yeah, nice to see you guys contributing over there!" Cipher laughed, having taken a split second advantage to maneuver and strafe a GINN that was gunning for Blaze.

"Hey, we killed a ship while you guys were screwing round." Mobius One said lightly, accelerating towards the other two aces at full speed.

The GINN pilots, for their part, had pride on being (at some level) veterans of the war, and weren't about to let the rookies attacking Artemis show them up. They had, as far as they were concerned, put the "Super Moebius" enemies on the run and were chasing them down to the best of their ability.

"C'mon, c'mon, just stay still, you damned fly…!" One of the pilots said, trying to get a lock on the large-engine Moebius dancing wildly in front of him.

"Captain! We two got more incoming!" One of his wingmen said, glancing down on his radar and seeing two targets approach very, very fast.

"Oy, Ribbon, are you sure you should be going at that speed?" Blaze asked, a little worried; if Mobius One decided to enter the battle at the speed he was going, by the time he could turn around he would be out of the battle area and probably would burn up in the atmosphere.

"Not a problem." Mobius One said.

"Holy shit this guy's stupid." The captain of the ZAFT squadron voiced the thoughts of his entire squadron as he watched the newcomer Moebius zip into the battlefield.

Mobius One sped almost directly towards the lead GINN unit, and deployed both of his grapples.

They connected with two GINN units.

"What the hell-" The captain of the GINN squad uttered before he felt his unit blare a warning that it was being towed against its will. He then engaged his engine at full power to counteract this idiot with a string, as his mind put it.

Mobius One's craft momentum, however, was too great and the two GINNs he latched onto were forcibly moved. Moreover, because the GINN captain had engaged his engines a lot earlier than his wingman, he accelerated forward…and ran right into his wingman.

Mobius One turned a full 180 degrees around and peppered the GINNs with Vulcan and Linear gun fire, silencing the two unit's haphazard self-defense fire. He watched with some satisfaction as Blaze took the momentary lull in fire to strike the GINN collision with his linear gun.

"Man, you're insane." Blaze said to Mobius One, looking at the two dead GINNs (he had hit them both on the engines).

"It got the job done." Mobius One replied, flying back into formation.

"No kidding. Razgriz, we're going back." Blaze looked at his Heads Up Display: apart from the energy meter demanding to be replaced, there was a multitude of warnings, almost all of which were structural failure messages due to a combination of grazing hits to his units and the unit protesting against his haphazard evasive flying.

"Roger that." Cipher said lightly, after capitalizing on the shock of the GINN squadrons to damage some other units before the rest lost their nerve and backed off.

"Razgriz to Archangel, we're returning, we need to tank."

…

"Tank? I guess they're out of energy." Murrue said to herself. "Ok, Razgriz. Do you plan to deploy again after you're refueled?"

"Most likely yes." Talisman said, looking at the radar display: the overwhelming number of red blips was a bit worrying, especially their progressively smaller distance towards the blip that was the Archangel.

…

"As I thought, they're out of fuel." Rau said to himself. He had, upon discussion with the rest of the Artemis assault squadron, realized that the oversized engines installed on the Ace Moebius units would require more energy to both keep it running and to compensate for maneuvers. He didn't anticipate them to run dry so quickly, though. "Well, it's a bit early, but…Cruset team! We're entering the battle!"

…

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." Halberton's operator muttered. "More enemy units incoming! Including signatures from the stolen G weapons!"

…

The Strike Gundam, meanwhile, was engaged with the first ZAFT fleet. The presence of its Phase Shift Armor meant Kira could take less time to evade and take more time to fire, shooting down the GINNs with near-engine hits (causing several of them to explode worryingly, but he pushed those thoughts out of his mind for now).

"Damn, what's with these numbers?!" He complained to nobody in particular, suddenly accelerating forward while twisting fast, causing the GINN aiming for him with a charging sword attack to miss and run straight into the Strike's beam saber. "Miriallia, how's the Archangel doing?"

"We're-ah!" Miriallia flinched as a missile exploded near the Archangel. "We're taking fire, but the ship is ok. Stay focused and don't get hurt out there!"

Kira spared a moment and looked back: the 8th fleet has suffered enough damage to cripple its blanket of anti-air fire, letting the occasional missile through to the Archangel, which was shooting most of them down as well as it could. The Rookie Mobius pilots were also helping, spreading out above and below the ship and firing at the missiles, though many of their shots strayed very close to the ship.

"Damn. Mu!"

"I'm doing all I can, kid!" Mu recovered his Gunbarrels to let them recharge. "What's the 8th fleet doing!?"

_Dying. _Thought the four Aces at the same time.

…

"Archangel, point of descent at six minutes!"

…

"Incoming!" Sai said. "Evade!"

The ship's helmsman didn't bother questioning it, and tried to maneuver the ship away from a shot coming straight to its back.

The Ship the rumbled as it took the hit. "We're hit! Light damage!" Sai let out a sigh of relief.

"Counter fire!" Murrue ordered, and the Archangel fired a few missiles behind it.

The missiles were intercepted, to nobody's surprise.

"Enemy sighted, it's the Buster!"

"Damn." Murrue bit her lip. "Have the Strike return immediately!"

…

"The Strike is on the move. Nicol! Stop him!"

The Strike flew towards the Archangel and swerved out of the way of a beam rifle shot and returned a pinpoint precise counter-shot while dodging.

"Jeez, he's even better than before." Nicol said, moving in for close range battle. "Athrun, Yzak, I'll need your help for this."

"Ok, Nicol." Athrun's Aegis had received a new beam rifle that was, to put it politely, taped together from spare parts based on ZAFT's current efforts of constructing beam weapons, and the destroyed beam rifle that the Aegis had.

"Got it." Yzak, through his training, had become more "professional", as anyone watching his piloting had commented. He piloted a white High Mobility GINN armed with the Aegis's undamaged arm beam saber (The Aegis had its leg ones put onto the arm slots).

"Alright, go!" Nicol fired a Lancer Dart at the Strike, who dodged it and returned fire with lightning speed. "I need to remember that he does that." Nicol said to himself, shaking his head.

"Kira." Athrun murmured, and charged into melee range.

"Athrun." Kira backpedaled as hard as he could with his engines while not turning around and fired at the charging Aegis, causing the Aegis to pull away from the charge while dodging the terrifyingly accurate shots.

"I got you!" Yzak roared, having charged straight underneath the Strike and was zooming straight up with its physical sword.

"Damn!" Kira maneuvered to point his beam rifle downwards to intercept, and then immediately had to rocket upwards to avoid a spray of fire from the Blitz and Aegis. Kira had half a mind to counter fire, but the white-painted GINN with oversized thrusters was still bearing down on him, and he had to draw his sword.

Kira then felt a clash as two beam sabers met, and then felt the G-force as the unit kicked him on the side of the body.

Kira gritted his teeth and accelerated towards Yzak's GINN at maximum thrust, ramming into it with his shield and dazing Yzak.

"I got your back!" Nicol fired the Glepnir (his rocket-propelled claw on a wire) at the Strike, grabbing its leg. Nicol pulled and the Strike came down a little.

Kira raised his engine output to counteract the force of the pull, before something clicked in his head and he pointed his rifle along the wire and fired quickly without bothering to aim.

"What's with this guy?!" Nicol nearly swore as he had to pull an evasive maneuver while reeling himself into the Strike for a very odd charging attack.

"Dammit!" Kira couldn't maneuver his unit to cut the line; the Strike wasn't built to be that flexible.

He looked up and saw the Beam Saber from Yzak approach his face, and made a split second decision.

Kira threw the shield as hard as he could at Yzak's unit, forcing him to block with the saber and knocking the GINN off balance. Kira then holstered his Beam rifle and drew his second beam saber, wielding it in his left hand.

Nicol charged in with the Blitz's beam saber out for a stabbing attack, letting the Glepnir's line slack a little.

Kira reoriented himself to face the Blitz and charged right back.

The Blitz's saber struck the Strike on the shoulder, while the Strike cut away the Blitz's left arm at the elbow, releasing the Glepnir and causing its grip to loosen.

Kira accelerated down and then cut the grapple line from of his leg with his left hand saber, before feeling his unit shake yet again from a flying kick aimed at his back from Yzak's GINN.

Kira gritted his teeth; he knew when he was outmatched, and the ZAFT pilots had way more experience in close range combat than he did. Thus, he turned around and tried to run back towards the Archangel at full speed.

"Dammit. To all local ZAFT units! Take down that EFA mobile suit!" Nicol roared over a general channel, not caring if the enemy got the message as well.

…

"Oh hell; why the hell did they send him without a wingman? What's our status?!" Blaze shouted at Murdoch after hearing Nicol's message over his radio.

"Your linear guns are good to go and you have half energy!" Murdoch shouted back.

"Good enough! Clear out! Razgriz, emergency launch!" Blaze rocketed out of the hangar almost immediately after the crew was clear of the engines. The three other fighters followed suit.

"Blaze, we're not in a good condition here." Cipher warned; their engines had taken damage from both heat and ZAFT fire.

"I know, but we can't let Kira handle this alone." Blaze said. "All Archangel units! Cover the Strike!"

As soon as he cleared the Archangel, he nosed toward the Strike heading back and kicked his acceleration to maximum.

…

"Oh no you don't!" Dearka said from his sniping position, firing shot after shot into the projected flight path of the Strangereal Aces.

…

"God that's annoying." Mobius One remarked as he lazily dodged a sniper shot.

…

"Kira, we're coming, hold on!" Kira heard over his radio as he nearly crashed into a GINN hell-bent on stopping him. He heard a sound and looked down on his HUD to see that the GINN had taken a piece of his wing.

Which didn't bother him, as he's in space.

What did bother him was the near constant barrage of machine gun that he was getting, from almost every side streams of bullets flew at his position, forcing him to use progressively wilder maneuvers to avoid taking hits while watching his Phase Shift Armor slowly whittle down his energy with every successive hit.

"Gah!" Kira stopped dodging for a moment and felt another shock as a GINN crashed into him from behind. His HUD now politely warned him that his back engine had taken damage and was going to be shut down for damage control purposes. "Oh hell, not now…!" Kira said, accessing the OS as fast as he could to do a manual override.

"He's stopped…! Finish him off!" Nicol said, his adrenaline getting to him a little.

"You're mine, you bastard!" Yzak roared with his beam saber extended for a slashing attack.

"Got it!" Kira's main engines came back online and he rocketed downwards to avoid Yzak's slash. Kira then felt yet another shake as he was hit by the GINN that he just dodged: Yzak had made a very fast high-G turn and emptied his missile tubes into the Strike.

"I'm not done yet!" Yzak charged downwards despite his confusion from the g-forces with his beam saber extended, pointed towards the Strike's cockpit.

Kira kicked his engines into as high of an output as he was willing to risk and spun with his beam saber outstretched.

The two sabers met and Kira's momentum allowed him to knock the GINN's arm away. The rest of the GINN, however, was still moving straight (or nearly so) and crashed into the Strike.

"Yzak! Move!" Yzak heard someone tell him, but he was still a little too dizzy to tell who. Regardless of the source he pushed the Strike away with his unit's arms while trying to clear his head by shaking it.

Nicol locked onto the Strike with his rifle sight, letting the Strike know that it was being targeted.

Kira knew that he was being targeted, but his engines had taken enough, and replied with a cough.

"Kid!" Blaze's Moebius craft screamed into the battle area, spraying Vulcan fire at the Blitz and causing it to alter its aim just slightly and miss the Strike's cockpit, instead hitting the winglets of the Aile pack on its back. "Get out of there, now! We're almost out of time!"

Kira spared a moment to look down and noted that he was almost out of power. "R-right!" He detached the Aile pack and picked it up with his unit's hands. He then put full power into the Strike's built in thrusters and aimed himself at the Archangel.

"All units, cover Strike One's retreat!" Blaze roared, latching onto a GINN with his grapple to slow himself down faster and to circle back to point at the Blitz.

"Shit, they're here!" Nicol quickly circled to a private communication channel among the Cruset team members. "Yzak, get back and support Dearka! Dearka will snipe from a distance, Athrun, get their attention and don't get hit!" Three affirmatives met his orders, and he then changed to a common ZAFT band. "All units at my location, focus fire on the modified Mobius crafts! Don't lose track of each other's positions!"

"Who the hell are you-" One ZAFT pilot started to say before Rau Le Cruset cut him off.

"This is Cruset, affirmative." When Rau Le Cruset decided to follow orders, the rest of the pilots knew better than to question the authority of the person issuing the order.

"Holy-" Blaze cut his grapple and jinked hard to avoid the torrent of machine gun fire. "Razgriz, keep your guard up! They got their eyes on us!"

"We kind of figured that out already!" Mobius One gritted his teeth, jinking to avoid fire while trying to line up a shot on the GINNs shooting at Blaze, and not having much luck as the GINNs doing the shooting would switch to him the instant he turned to aim (and end up needing to fly straight).

Cipher streaked high over the battlefield while being followed by a swarm of missiles. "Where's the rest of the fleet?!" He said as he purged his heat radiator into the missiles, detonating enough of them for him to turn around to shoot down the rest.

"They're still covering the Archangel!" Talisman said, neglecting to mention the fact that there was a worrying amount of debris from the dead EFA ships around them.

"Damn. How long until Archangel's descent?" Blaze asked, taking a wild shot at a GINN aiming for Cipher.

…

"Archangel's descent in one hundred seconds." Miriallia said. "Beginning final descent preparations; all units, please return."

"Strike to Archangel, I'm coming back."

"Blaze to Archangel, requesting fire support; we can't disengage with these guys on our tails!"

Murrue looked around, and noted the condition of the 8th fleet, reduced to a fraction of the numbers it used to have. "Admiral, please retreat from the combat area; we'll make the descent on our own." She said as the Archangel's Moebius squadrons fired willy-nilly towards the combat area occupied by the Razgriz squadron.

"I'm sorry, Ramius. Looks like we couldn't hold out until the end." Halberton said, sighing. "All 8th fleet ships, retreat from the combat area while suppressing all ZAFT forces around the Archangel!"

Murrue then issued another order. "Use the Valiants, Corinth, anything! Cover the Razgriz!"

…

With the lights coming from the engines of cruise missiles and GINNs aimed at the Archangel, it wouldn't have been too much of an exaggeration to say that it was like a bright lamp being swarmed by moths.

And the moths were fireproof.

…

In almost no time at all, the Archangel began to take damage.

"Gottfried emplacement one, hit! Barrels offline!"

"Igellstung emplacements two, five, eight, hit! All offline!"

"Continue firing! Lay down a blanket above us, don't worry about hitting anything!" Natarle ordered, as the Archangel's armor continued to be pummeled by machine gun fire and the occasional missile that manages to get through.

…

"This ship's like a goddamn porcupine." A ZAFT pilot said, watching the hail of fire coming back toward them.

"Yeah. Better than dealing with those stupidly good Moebius units back there though." His wingman said, aiming at a normal Moebius that was hanging around the Archangel and picking it off with his recoilless rifle.

…

"Strike three, hit!" Miriallia said, her heart beating again after seeing a Moebius take a direct hit to its cockpit, while her brain berated her for being relieved that someone other than Tolle had died.

"Damn!" Tolle sighted a GINN, and fired away as fast as he could. "Get the hell away from us, you damned ZAFT bastards!"

…

"Blaze, the Archangel's in trouble." Mobius One said, finally getting some breathing room.

Once it became clear that every ZAFT unit in the region was gunning exclusively for the Strangereal Aces, they started flying differently, they started to fight differently.

With every maneuver, with every shot, a GINN either lost a body part or exploded entirely. Every time a minute gap appeared in the hail of bullets that surrounded the four aces, it would be exploited for all its worth and the unfortunate soul that decided to reload would find itself suddenly and violently ripped from its host.

Soon enough, the withering fire around them lessened and they had more maneuver room.

And once they had gotten that maneuver room, even more ZAFT died.

…

"What do we do now, Blaze?" Cipher said, looking at his energy readout. "I'm bone dry here."

"Makes all of us." Talisman sighed, sighting a GINN that didn't retreat far enough before reloading and punching a hole in the cockpit. "Only got my Vulcans left."

"I don't think we have enough left to dock." Cipher said. "We go too fast we overshoot and burn up in the atmosphere, we go too slow and we'll get shot to pieces."

"Damned if we do, damned if we don't." Blaze sighed. "This is Razgriz one to Archangel, what's your situation?"

"We're proceeding with the descent, return to the ship, Blaze." Miriallia replied.

"That might be a bit tough. Can you patch us to Murdoch?"

"Huh, uh…sure, hold on a second."

…

"Murdoch here. You're not gonna die out there, are ya, ace?"

"Nah, but we do need a little help; got any ideas?"

"You can latch onto the Archangel with your grapples during the descent; it won't be pretty but at least you'll make the descent with us. Or you could go with the 8th fleet; not much in terms of options here."

"Thought as much; alright, Razgriz, you heard the man. We're going to chain ourselves to the angel."

…

"They're running, sir. Should we pursue them?" Nicol said, finally letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding: even in a suit with immunity against bullets, he felt as if with every GINN that was shot down he would've been next.

"I think we're the ones who'll be in trouble if it happens; they're not going to reach the legged ship in time anyways." Athrun said, trying hard to ignore how cold his back felt, pressed against his pilot suit drenched with sweat. "We've won, though."

"Right." Yzak's chuckle was without any mirth. "Some victory, Athrun." His High Mobility GINN was smoking in several locations, and one particular hole near his cockpit reminded him just how much he missed the near perfect defense that Phase Shift armor provided.

"I know. Damn." Athrun looked around at the GINN pieces floating around them. Somewhere during their planning, somewhere during their concerted assault on the Aces they had completely forgotten the fact that the pilots they were trying to kill were accurate enough to aim for nonfatal hits.

Faced with overwhelming odds on behalf of the ZAFT attack plan, the Aces of Strangereal had collectively decided to stop toying with the ZAFT and show them just how a real war was fought.

"All units, return to the ship; we've done more than enough here." Rau Le Cruset said, berating himself for having forgotten that the ones they fought against were trying to avoid killing, instead of simply being unable to.

Of the 32 units deployed dedicated to killing the Razgriz, 9 units made it home.

…

Tolle watched as another Mobius craft died next to him. "Uh, Murrue! What do we do now?"

Murrue wanted to tell the boy that it was a lucky shot; their ZAFT pursuers were now far away due to their desire to remain unburnt by the atmosphere. "You've done well. All crafts return to hangars, we're entering the final descent phase."

"Right; I'll help." Kira deployed with the Strike and no packs to help retrieve the Mobius crafts.

Nobody on the ship had the illusion that amateur pilots would make the trip back to the hangar during conditions as punishing as an atmospheric entry, and the amateurs themselves weren't eager to rush to their deaths; not many heroes heroically failed a docking maneuver, after all.

"What's going to happen to the Razgriz?" Tolle asked once his craft was secured in its anchors; all pilots were ordered to stand by in their cockpits until the descent had completed.

"Hopefully they'll do something insane and survive." Miriallia said, her adrenaline overwhelming her common sense, as she watched the metallic screen shutters close the bridge off from the rigors of reentry.

…

"Oy, Blaze. Look over there." Mobius One said.

Blaze looked: A ZAFT cruiser, trailing a lot of smoke, was following the Archangel down on its descent.

"That guy has a death wish." Blaze deadpanned. "Blaze to Archangel, you have a tail."

"Our weapons are locked down right now." Natarle said, feeling fear anew in her chest.

"Shit." Blaze felt his mind race for a moment, before it settled on an unpleasant solution.

"Razgriz to Archangel, we'll take care of it."

"What? Blaze, you're not going to make it back in time!" Murrue said. The ZAFT ship was descending at a much faster rate than the Archangel, but it had its guns trained on its prey, ready to fire…once it cleared some condition to do so.

"We'll meet you once we've touched down. Blaze, out."

"Wai-"

"Man, this sucks." Cipher laughed.

"You said it." Talisman chuckled; none of them had the fuel left to get back into orbit, and if they chased down the ZAFT cruiser and killed it they would end up lower than the Archangel, and would burn up in orbit even if they tried to latch onto it.

"Gentlemen, it's been an honor to fly with you in the wide open space." Mobius One said, and then grinned. "Now let's bag ourselves a ship and fly in the blue skies."

"Damn straight." Blaze was grinning as well. "Blaze, Wardog one, engaging!"

"Galm one. You guys are nuts. Engaging!"

"Garuda one. I concur. Engaging!"

"Mobius one. Engage!"

…

Miriallia looked at the dead control panel in front of her; the ship was no longer receiving communications from the outside since the radios were retrieved and covered. She couldn't do anything more than pray that both the ship and the four aces made it.

...

Kira looked down at his hands still tightly wrapped around the Strike's controls, his (would-be) guilt ringing loud in his ears, knowing full well that if the four of them died it would be his fault. That if he was a better pilot they would not have needed to deploy with reduced fuel.

"Kid, you ok there?" Mu asked over the radio.

Kira didn't answer.

Mu sighed. "Kid…"

Murdoch's voice came over the radio in his head. "Don't be so hard on yourself, kid; they're not dead yet."

Kira flinched. "How can you…"

"How do I know?" Murdoch laughed. "Because I've never seen pilots with as much skill as those guys. I daresay they make the impossible possible, y'know!"

Mu grumbled. "Geez, first they take my spot then they take my line!"

Murdoch's grin was audible and infectious. "I took your line, Mr. Flaga!" Murdoch then turned serious. "I believe in them."

As if in response, the ship rumbled.

…

"Shit, it fired." Blaze said, burning up almost every last bit of his energy to get into optimal range.

The ZAFT cruiser had just fired at the Archangel with its main cannons, scoring no direct hit but close enough to damage the heat-resistant gel that was deployed on the bottom. He then noticed that the ship's engines were still going.

"Razgriz, pour everything into those engines!" He roared.

Four craft's worth of linear guns and Vulcans complied, pouring all of their ammunition into the ship's engines, turning it into a fireball that engulfed the ship and turned it into a floating corpse.

"Whoa." Cipher said, his eyes widening.

"Yeah. Razgriz, we're using that thing as a heat shield! Grapples!" He then remembered that he had cut his grapple earlier. "Ah shit. I lost my grapple."

"Ha!" Cipher couldn't help it. "We got you, don't worry."

The three planes that had grapples latched themselves onto the descending corpse of the ZAFT cruiser, and then detached their linear guns.

Blaze detached his oversized engines and linear gun, right before he nearly crash-landed onto the cruiser. His hard point claws dug into the cruiser armor and secured the cockpit block as tightly as it could.

The three other fighters landed close around him and dug into the armor as well, and the extra mass of the engines helped pin Blaze's craft onto the cruiser.

…

An alarm sounded in the Archangel after a few minutes of silence.

"What's going on?!" Murrue demanded as the ship shook heavily; they then felt their center of gravity change severely.

"One of…one of our engines overheated and exploded!" Sai said in disbelief. "We got hit…?"

"Exp..how could that have happened?!" Natarle demanded, feeling as if she's going down a steep slope on a roller coaster.

"Th-the ablative gel took a hit, probably from that tail we had!" Sai shouted in reply.

"Maintain our position!" Murrue ordered, feeling very uncomfortable due to the seatbelt around her waist.

"Trying!" The helmsman said, pulling back as hard as he could, fighting against the force of gravity on the massive ship.

…

"I really hope we don't burn up in here." Cipher said to no one in particular; their radios had already short-circuited. He watched another piece of the cruiser fly off the ship. "I really, REALLY hope we don't burn up here."

…

…

Before long, the skies over the ocean saw two visitors from space: a giant fireball and a ship.

The ship was oddly built, and struggling to keep its bottom pointed towards the water.

The fireball was…well, a fireball. With pieces flying off as it slowed down to the point where it was a small fireball being followed by smaller fireballs.

…

"We're clear!" The Archangel crew breathed a collective sigh of relief as they slowed down enough to avoid burning to death instantly if their angle of attack into the atmosphere changed. The helmsman was particularly grateful, as it meant he finally won the tug of war against gravity.

The Archangel leveled out to be parallel with the ocean surface, with one of its engines bellowing out smoke…before another engine exploded and sent the ship almost spiraling nose-first into the ocean.

Fortunately, the Archangel's helmsman is an underrated badass, and he managed to stop the ship before it started its ungodly spiral and tried to pull the ship's nose up as much as possible while the air brakes on the ship deployed to try and slow it down as much as possible.

Unfortunately, as much as possible still meant a very fast, nearly 30 degree dive heading towards the ocean.

...

Blaze saw the Archangel plunge into the ocean ahead of him while trailing a lot of smoke, and was worried. But his craft demanded more immediate attention: warning alarms were going off inside the cockpit about every possible defect, from charred armor to unresponsive controls. It also didn't help that his HUD was entirely dead, having burned out from the re-entry.

"It's gonna take me a miracle to get out of this one." He muttered, before using light communication to talk with his wingmen. It was a single word.

FLY

Almost in tandem, the four Mobius crafts released their hard point locks on the cruiser (three made the release; Cipher's locks actually broke off instead) and the odd looking Mobius cloud lifted into the air, powered by momentum and slowed down by a hideous lack of an aerodynamic frame.

…

…

Miriallia rubbed her forehead; even with her pressing her head against the panel to avoid bashing her head in due from the momentum it still hurt. She then looked at the display, which was showing a cloud of four blips somewhere over their head.

"Razgriz confirmed! They're alive!" She shouted joyfully over the cacophony of warnings and alerts.

Natarle was about to remind her that they have zero reason to believe the blips were the Razgriz, and that their ship was in fact underwater when it wasn't built to be, but thought better of it.

One of the blips suddenly broke off from the other three.

…

Mobius One didn't have time to utter a curse; one of his engines decided that it finally had enough and detached itself, taking his grapple with it and causing him to go into a spin aimed at the ocean, much like the Archangel. Unlike the Archangel the Moebius's control system was totally dead due to a combination of stress and re-entry damage.

The end result was that Mobius One was fighting a battle against gravity while watching the sky and ocean mingle in front of his eyes.

…

"Uh, we might have an issue here." Kira said, watching water flow into the hangar.

"We know; the equipment's sealed and the pumps are all good, so don't worry about it." Murdoch replied, looking at the hangar entrance from his spot above the hangar floor.

"Don't worry about it, he says." Kira mutters, looking at the water accumulate around the Strike at a worrying rate.

"What's the situation?" Murrue asked over the radio.

"Hangar two's catapult system is totally dead, we'll need to dock to replace it; both hangar gates are busted, and water's coming in. Do we have permission to blow them once we're out of the water?"

"Granted."

…

The Archangel's helmsman pulled as hard as he could, hoping that the Archangel will surface after its plunge into the ocean faster than the rate of water flowing in.

Soon enough, the altitude display changed from a negative to a positive number, and he reduced power on the remaining hover thrusters, allowing the Archangel to float on the water surface.

…

Cipher spared a moment to look as one of the Archangel's hangar door exploded for no reason as he attached Blaze to his grapple.

…

Mobius One finally stopped spiraling.

Talisman fired his grapple at Mobius One's craft, latching onto it. He then pulled up as hard as he could.

Mobius One felt himself swing through the air, and struggled to maintain an angle that exposed as much of his unit's underside to the water as he could to slow himself down, before whatever's left of his speed broke the badly damaged grapple connections and sent him into the water.

Mobius One crashed into the ocean engine-first and bobbed there like a lopsided cork, until the other engines attachments gave out, and then he bobbed there like a regular cork, propped up by the engine block underneath him.

Talisman burned out the last bit of his energy (and his engine with it) and hit the water much like Mobius One, only with a sharp crunch sound as his engine's connectors to the rest of his craft broke off, scattering sparks everywhere.

Blaze's craft was more or less dropped into the ocean like a stone, where it bobbed for a moment and began to sink.

Cipher glided to a stop near the Archangel, the very picture of control (that is, if his engines weren't actually on fire before they hit water with a loud hiss).

…

Murrue opened a channel to the outside of the ship, an open-air channel. "Are you guys alright?" She asked.

The crew heard her voice ring through the air.

The pilots then heard an explosion underwater, and Blaze floated to the surface, accompanied by debris from the remains of the blast door of his now submerged Moebius.

Mobius One flashed a light message to the Archangel's bridge, after the steel shutters were retracted.

R S OK


	6. Stage 6 - Tiger of the Desert

The four Aces were fished out of the water in a short amount of time, and Blaze inwardly thanked the man that decided to give Moebius crafts paper thin armor: it made them float.

Assuming, of course, that the engine blocks were still attached to the main body.

Which was important for Ribbon especially, as his craft's cockpit entrance had jammed and refused to budge, causing a few several harrowing moments as water flowed in while the Archangel hangar crew cut a new entrance on the top of the craft.

But, at the end of the day, they were safe back in the Archangel.

…

"Total damage…nearly half of our guns are dead, and we lost two engines. The ship's almost lost all of its ability to glide, and we're on the ocean. Wonderful." Murrue sighed. "On the other hand, we're alive and kicking, so that's good. Where are we, exactly?"

"We're…on the Pacific Ocean, near the coast of Africa." Sai said, looking at a radar display. He then glanced out the window, and saw the shoreline, a fair distance away. "It's really good that we avoided landing in Africa."

"We were heading for Alaska, right? How'd we end up so far away?" Natarle wondered.

"The computer wasn't correctly calculated." The helmsman, Arnold Neuman, said. "Whoever made it failed geography."

Natarle rubbed her temples. "Of all the things that could've screwed us over it had to be a computer issue. Just our luck…Captain, what should we do next?"

Murdoch was called to the bridge earlier as he knew the ship's physical condition the best, and he responded in Murrue's place.

"The ship's not in good shape." Mu rolled his eyes. Murdoch shot him a dirty look. "Most of the aft lift engines are damaged from the re-entry heat. We won't be able to keep the ship stable if we fly and we can't fly if we want to keep the ship stable."

He scratched his head. "The two engines we lost means if we sail we're going to take a lot of water and sink as soon as something scratches us, and the guns we lost means if we sail we're going to get scratched by ZAFT, take a lot of water and then sink."

"What about the Razgriz?" Natarle asked. Murdoch's reply was a blank look.

"They just got fished out of the ocean after crashing into it from orbit, what do you think?"

…

The Razgriz, incidentally, were placed in the medical bay because it's not very often someone decides to make an atmospheric re-entry with a dead ZAFT cruiser as a heat shield.

…

"So what are our options?" Murrue asked.

"Honestly?" Murdoch replied. Murrue nods. "We need to fish for supplies; at the very least enough to get all of our lifters working."

"Where are we going to get those out here? Africa is ZAFT territory, after all." Natarle said.

"There's always the black market." Mu said with a shrug.

Natarle scowled at him.

"For the time being, Murdoch, do whatever you can to get the ship floating." Murdoch salutes and leaves the bridge.

…

[In orbit]

…

"I can't believe those guys." Athrun breathed after seeing a replay of the ZAFT cruiser falling into the atmosphere. "Did they make it?"

"God I hope not." Dearka replied. "The sooner those guys die the better."

"Well, we're just going to have to make sure." Rau Le Cruset said, walking into the lounge and returning the salutes of the two boys.

"Sir?"

"Dearka, you will accompany Yzak and continue the pursuit of the legged ship." Cruset ordered. "We need to make sure that that ship dies before it can get back into friendly lines."

Dearka frowned; continuing to fight against those pilots wasn't what he wanted, but maybe they would be easier in the sky. "Yes sir."

"And me, sir…?" Athrun ventured.

"We've received some…interesting, reports of unusual activity in the Heliopolis remains; we're being tasked to go check it out."

"Unusual? Isn't it just more of the Junkers?" Dearka muttered.

Cruset smiled. "Apparently we might have missed a few things."

…

[Back on land, a week later]

…

Miriallia was on night duty, paying the sparsest of attention to the communications display in front of her, feeling herself drifting off to sleep because it's dark and it's quiet.

She heard a knock on the wall, and jumped slightly to look and see…Tolle.

"Miri, are you still mad?" He asked sheepishly.

No response.

"Yep, still mad. I'm, uh…really sorry I didn't say anything, but…"

Miriallia sighed. "I know. We all want to protect Kira." She pointed a finger at him with the hand that her chin was resting on. "But the next time you deploy you let me know first, got it?"

Tolle nodded furiously.

The communications panel suddenly beeped, and Miriallia read the message to herself.

"What's going on?" Tolle asked, coming up to read the message.

"Beats me." Miriallia leaned back. "I don't know what this message means, but I don't think it's anything important; it doesn't follow any encryption rules the EFA uses, anyways."

"Huh, weird."

…

[Next day]

…

"Murdoch, how're we looking?"

"We're about as close to finishing as we were yesterday." Murdoch sighed. "We just don't have the parts to do the repairs; we can cannibalize some of our units to do it, but I don't think that's a smart idea."

Murrue sighed. "Yeah. Damn."

Miriallia then caught her attention. "Ma'am, earlier I received an odd message, but it didn't seem to make any sense, so…"

Murrue nodded. "Show me."

Murrue read the message, and didn't understand what it meant. "Wow, what?"

Miriallia couldn't help but slightly giggle. "I didn't quite understand it either, but I think it's a communication from someone."

"Ma'am." Murrue heard Blaze's voice at the entrance to the bridge. She stood up to see him saluting.

She salutes back. "Good to see that you're alright, Blaze."

Blaze grinned. "Takes more than a re-entry to kill me, captain; what's up?"

"We got a message from someone that doesn't make any sort of sense." Miriallia replied casually.

"Oh really?" Blaze scanned it.

Then he did a double take.

And then he read it again a third time, just to make sure it was right.

"What's…uh, what's this about?" Miriallia was a little scared of Blaze's sudden change in demeanor.

"I'm not quite sure either." Blaze said in his best fake nonchalant voice. "But it looks really familiar."

_I'll say. _Murrue thought, not tricked for a moment. "You're not as good of an actor as Cipher, Blaze; what's this message about?"

"I really don't know." Blaze raised his hands. "But I have some guesses; speaking of which, Cipher!"

"You called?" Cipher leaned stopped short of passing by the bridge.

"How did you know he was there?" Neuman wondered.

"What do you think about this?" Blaze said, gesturing the communication panel. Cipher leaned over and read it quickly.

"Someone want a piece of us?" Cipher said lightly. "How'd they know about us?"

"Think it's someone we know?" Blaze ignored Murrue's raised eyebrow entirely.

"More like it's someone that knows about us."

"What's going on?!" Murrue demanded.

"No clue." The two Aces said in unison. "But you might get another message later." Cipher added.

…

…

…

Sure enough, a few hours later they received an incoming call…from an encrypted EFA line that no one should have access to.

"Hey, guys." The voice said. It was quite friendly and fairly young.

"Who is this?" Murrue asked, as politely as she could.

"That isn't important right now." The voice said. "I saw you guys come crashing through the sky, figured you could use a little help."

"That's…quite admirable of you." Natarle's caution was palpable.

The person on the line picked it up as well. "Well, we're no friends of ZAFT, and I don't think ZAFT would willingly let one of their ships descend while on fire."

Murrue raised an eyebrow.

"In any case." The voice sounds apologetic. "We know some people who could help you with supplies that you need and a dry dock for repairs, and if you're willing to help us out with someone then we would be happy to help you back. Deal?"

Murrue sighed. "Help you how?"

Natarle was about to point out that it broke regulations for the army to broker deals with a third party, before seeing Murrue's frown and conceding, silently, that they were in no position to be picky.

"Well, we could use some more manpower. A certain tiger of the desert has been giving us trouble."

"And how do we know that this tiger won't come and hit us?" Natarle asked, before noting that Blaze had entered the bridge at some point during the conversation.

"If we raise a big enough stink, he'll be too busy to divert his forces. Africa's not exactly the most peaceful of places, y'know." ZAFT had been in control of Africa for only a few short months, and pacification processes weren't going well. Compounding the fact was that ZAFT had given Africa fairly low priority, and most of the forces that could deploy were being fielded elsewhere.

Murrue looked behind her when she heard Blaze clear his throat and give a thumbs up.

"Very well. We agree to assist." Murrue said after a brief moment.

"Great! Oh, by the way. The enemy has some way skilled pilots, so you should send only your best people." The line went dead.

Natarle narrowed her eyes. "I don't like this, Captain. They could be trying to divert our firepower, especially with a line like that."

Murrue nodded. "Yeah. So who should we send?"

"Razgriz will go; The Strike should be used to defend the ship if the stolen G-units show up." Blaze said.

"Are you sure about that?" Natarle wondered, a little snidely.

"Yeah. We can handle it." Blaze shrugged. "We're all itching to fly in a sky again, y'know?" He grinned.

…

…

…

Ribbon climbed into the cockpit of the F-7D-C Spearhead (As Murdoch called it, the "Super" Spearhead), positively giddy at the prospect of flying in the sky again.

"How do you like your craft, Ribbon?" Murdoch asked with a wide grin.

Ribbon sat back and soaked up the feeling of being in his metallic sky-blue painted aircraft, with its tail adorned with the insignia of a plane soaring through a Mobius strip. "Like I'm finally back home." He said with a satisfied smile.

"You're not home yet, Ribbon." Blaze laughed, climbing into his craft, featuring a yellow and black line running across the fuselage of the plane, and the insignia of a hunting dog. "We still got a few minutes before we cross the door."

Cipher was all grins, any pains from his injuries forgotten. His plane's wingtips were painted black, with the insignia of the hound biting its chain on the tail.

Talisman's insignia was the emblem of a bird on an otherwise unpainted craft. "It's about time. Hope we didn't forget how to fly in the sky."

The F-7D-C Spearhead had retooled engines given the maximum amount of care and attention to make sure that said engines won't burn out (again) during combat. The wings were given structural pylons for more missiles, as enemies in the sky tend to be far less capable of suddenly turning around and shooting down said missile.

Blaze wasn't quite sure how much better a plane with a week's worth of upgrading would be, but he certainly wasn't about to disparage Murdoch's hard work.

"Razgriz, deploy in five minutes." Miriallia informed them.

…

One by one, the four Spearheads climbed into the sky.

Miriallia then heard a simultaneous sigh of comfort from all four pilots.

"It's good to be back." Ribbon said.

…

Miriallia felt slightly creeped out.

…

"Come to think of it. How's the kid doing?" Blaze suddenly asked, remembering that he didn't see Kira at all for the past two days.

"Kira? He's…sulking, I suppose. He blames himself for almost killing us." Talisman replied.

"Seriously?"

"That's what Sai's saying; Kira's spent all of his time in the simulator, as far as I know." Talisman shrugged.

"Miri." Blaze said to the radio.

"Hey." Miriallia said, a little annoyed; only Tolle had the privilege for that particular nickname.

"Fix the kid for us before we come back, alright?"

"Wh-he's not a toy!" Miriallia was now a lot annoyed.

…

…

Kira had compiled data from the asteroid belt, the descent battle, and then had cranked all of the settings on the trial units to maximum. And then he hacked the simulation to give said trial units the highest possible specs that he could without breaking the simulator.

That was two days ago.

Apart from stopping for a few hours to eat and sleep he hasn't left the simulation room at all.

…

[A few hours later]

…

Blaze heard a voice over the radio. "EFA fighters, we've been expecting you. Please land as soon as you are able."

Mobius one blinked, before opening a line. "Neil? Is that you?"

The other line sat silent for a little while. "This is SkyEye, Mobius One, do you copy?"

Mobius one smiled despite himself. "Mobius One, acknowledge. Good to hear your voice, sir."

"You two know each other?" Blaze asked.

"SkyEye was my AWACS operator back there." Mobius One replied; all of them understood "back there" to be "Strangereal."

"Ah." Blaze said. "Wardog one to SkyEye, it's an honor to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine. I haven't seen you since Operation Katina, Mobius one; how've you been?"

Ribbon raised an eyebrow. "Operation Katina?"

Cipher interjected here. "Galm one to SkyEye. There's some temporal issues with us aces; we'll fill you in once we're on the ground."

…

A blonde haired girl looked at the man manning the radio, then back to the dark-skinned man standing next to her. The two of them shrugged simultaneously.

…

…

"I see, so we're from different spots on the timelines…" Neil muttered. "But all the same, it's nice to see you again, Mobius one."

SkyEye had retired after Operation Katina and had not seen Mobius One again for three years.

"Same here; I miss having my AWACS, y'know?" Ribbon laughed.

"I think we all miss having an AWACS, Ribbon." Talisman grinned.

Neil then turned and offered his hand to Cipher. "It's an honor to meet the famed Demon Lord of the Round Table; you were an inspiration to a lot of our ISAF pilots."

Cipher shook the offered hand. "Ha! I'm more famous than I know."

"Guess you don't know about us, huh?" Blaze accused with a smile.

"I'm afraid I do not, but I have my guesses." Neil admitted. Had his untimely transportation to the current timeline been a month late he would've seen the opening of hostilities between Osea and Yuktobania.

"Ah well, that's good enough; so what's the current situation?"

Everyone became serious, as it was business time.

…

"The rebellion in Africa has been going on for some time now, and hostilities between them and ZAFT are at an all-time high. However, the rebel forces lack the military capabilities to strike at the ZAFT flagship directly." An operator said. Mobius One could've sworn that it was the same man who briefed him on his missions back in Strangereal.

Blaze raised an eyebrow. "Wow, dreaming a little big there, aren't they?"

Neil shrugged.

The operator continued after a moment. "The ZAFT forces are projecting their influence with the help of this land ship, operational name 'Lesseps'." A picture of a large yellow behemoth of a ship appeared on the screen. "As long as this ship is active, ZAFT is able to move unimpeded through the desert and deploy their forces at will."

"More importantly, that's the flagship of the tiger of the desert." A girl's voice said behind them. The operator bowed and stepped away from the screen.

"Ok, so explain to us why crippling one ship will miraculously force ZAFT to lose control over this place." Cipher said with doubt in his voice.

The girl shot him a dirty look. "ZAFT is choking the float of supplies in this region, and all to maintain that giant ship of theirs; we kill it, and the local people will get rise up to support us."

Cipher refrained from rolling his eyes with some difficulty. "Whatever you say, darlin'."

The girl bristled. "In any case." She said through clenched teeth. "We need your help against that ship."

Talisman looked around on the base. "Um, what other assets do you have?" His eyes roamed over the jeeps parked underneath canopies and bazookas propped against crates.

"What you see is what we have. Hence, we need your help; we have ammunition for your Spearheads, but we don't have the fighters to fly them." The dark-skinned man behind her said before the girl could respond. "We also have the engineers to provide maintenance should you need it."

"Which we probably will." Blaze sighed. "We've already agreed to this, but man, you guys don't have any idea what you're up against, do you?"

The girl practically shouting at him in response. "The people are suffering! Why should we sit on our asses and wait for things to get better when we can do it ourselves?!"

"Don't confuse courage with stubbornness, brat." Cipher growled. He noted that the dark-skinned man shifted a little aggressively. "You'll just die a quick death if you do."

"Stop calling me girl or brat, I have a name, dammit!"

"Which you've never told us." Ribbon pointed out.

The girl seemed to be taken aback, which was not the response any of the aces had expected.

"Cagalli." The girl finally said after a moment.

Cipher felt his brain spin and then click into place. "So what's the princess of Orb doing in Africa?"

The dark-skinned man barely stopped himself from pointing a pistol at Cipher's forehead.

"What makes you think I'm someone like that?" Cagalli responded, much too slowly and shakily to be believable.

"Cagalli isn't exactly a common name in these parts." Cipher said. "Well, why you're here is none of my business."

Any further discussion was interrupted by a young man running up to the makeshift table.

"ZAFT BaCues coming in!"

…

…

The Aces of Strangereal took to the skies fast, thanks to the Spearhead's VTOL capabilities.

"What are BaCues?" Talisman asked.

"ZAFT's ground dominance units; they look like dogs and are pretty damned fast, supposedly." Cipher replied.

"How did you know about her?" Ribbon asked, referring to Cagalli.

"She's pretty infamous in Orb for being flighty, and being flighty as a princess plasters your face all over the news." Cagalli Yula Athha, the daughter of Orb's current head of government, Uzumi Nara Athha, had gone missing and nearly caused a national panic before Uzumi stepped in with an official story. Naturally, while she was considered missing the orb news sources posted every last picture (some real, some fake) they could get of the sixteen year old girl and Cipher, ever the attentive news watcher, managed to catch some wind of it.

"Chat later, targets now." Ribbon reminded them; the BaCues were kicking up a trail of dust that could be seen by the naked eye.

"Damn, they got this close before the lookouts saw them?" Blaze shook his head. "Razgriz, check in."

"Two." "Three." "Four."

"We're going to do a visual sweep first and identify the targets. Don't get careless out there."

"Roger that."

…

"Captain, I see some aircraft coming from the rebel base." A BaCue pilot said.

"I see them; have the mercenaries get in the air, too."

"Roger."

…

"What do you see, Blaze?" Talisman asked, flying over the BaCues as the guns on the dog-like mobile armor swiveled to track him in the air.

"Two BaCues, three support vehicles." Blaze said, seeing two BaCues and three jeeps.

"Alright, we doing this?" Cipher said, stopping in mid-air with the VTOL engines.

"Yeah; Razgriz, cleared to engage."

…

The ZAFT jeep drivers were too busy swiveling every which way to try and aim at the four Spearheads zipping overhead to realize that one of them had suddenly stopped and pointed its nose towards them.

…

"Jeeps are dead." Talisman said, seeing three flames from the dust.

…

"Captain! Our support units are…"

"Damn it, fire, fire!"

…

Ribbon saw the streaks from the BaCue guns, and banked to evade them.

A part of him felt joy at being able to do something so simple again.

…

"Damn, we're not hitting them?! What's with these damned pilots?!"

…

"Oy, you guys, quit screwing around!" The aces heard Cagalli over the radio.

All of them had gotten so caught up in enjoying the free flight (despite being shot that) that they had momentarily forgotten that they were in a battle.

In response, Cipher dove down sharply, levelling out and stopping right above a BaCue. Then he dropped a bomb while putting power into his VTOL engines. Said BaCue pilot felt a shudder before the unit collapsed onto the ground, the guns on its back a smoking wreck.

…

"Captain!"

…

"Where are you looking?" Mobius One muttered, watching the remaining alive BaCue stop moving to turn around and physically look at the downed unit.

Said BaCue turned to look at the Spearhead diving at it far too late and received a hail of bullets for its troubles.

"Razgriz three, direct hit on enemy cockpit. He's probably not getting up any time soon." From what Mobius One could deduce from desert combat vehicles in the desert need to be fairly robust to withstand the harsh conditions, and as such he didn't delude himself into thinking that the BaCue's pilots were dead.

…

Said ZAFT pilot was in fact alive, but had lost all of his main cameras. He debated fighting for a bit longer before a gruff voice came over the radio.

"Hey you! Get yourself back to base, now."

"R-right." The young man said, and punched a button on his control panel.

The BaCue suddenly sprang to live, swiveled around, and bolted off at top speed.

All BaCues were equipped with an auto-recovery function that drove the suit to a pre-determined point (in this case the Lesseps) in the case that they get lost in the desert.

…

"Huh, that guy ran away fast." Mobius One said while pulling back into the air.

"Probably some safety protocol." Cipher mused.

"Wouldn't surprise me; ZAFT cares a lot more about its pilots than the EFA." Blaze muttered. "Razgriz, picture clear, return to base."

The four crafts turned around and headed back to the rebel base.

…

Blaze's cockpit suddenly blared a missile alarm. Wasting no time, he broke off from his flight path, scanned his radar, and pulled up sharply, using the VTOL engines to quickly change his direction.

The missile exploded well before it hit him.

"What the hell…where did that come from?" Talisman demanded.

All four aces had jinked when they saw Blaze suddenly deviate from the flight path.

"Looks like more ZAFT boys are showing up. Razgriz, turn to engage." Blaze said, before getting an odd feeling in his stomach. Trusting his instincts, he inverted and dove suddenly.

A fighter streaked by, bullets from its nose raking where he was only seconds ago.

"Whoa, whoa, you're joking!" Cipher said, after he had gotten a good look at the enemy fighters.

"Looks like there're more of us than just us." Blaze said, opening up a general communications link.

"This is Wardog one of the Sand Island Defense Force hailing the X-02 Wyverns in current airspace. Please respond."

…

The pilot of one of the Wyverns, a fighter from Strangereal, grinned after a moment.

…

The two ZAFT fighters flew side by side, displaying the insignias on their tail to the four aces of strangereal as the two groups flew by each other.

"Hey Kid. Fancy meeting you here!" A man with a gruff voice said happily.

One of the fighters, sporting an insignia of a heart being cut in a jagged pattern, broke off and flew next to the Spearhead with the hunting dog.

Blaze was too shocked to verbalize his thoughts.

"Surprised? Me too. I hear you've a helluva squad captain now, kid." The man continued, his fighter inverting on top of Blaze's aircraft, so that their canopies faced each other. "Yeah, you're looking real good. So how about a little tussle, for old time's sake?"

Blaze blinked. This was no time to be sentimental; old relations, especially in times of war, meant nothing while they're in the air. "Yes, sir; Razgriz, stay out of this." And yet...

"What…" Talisman was about to interject.

"Like I said, sit back and watch!" Blaze said, breaking out into a huge grin as he and the Terminator flew apart to face each other in the blue sky. Blaze took a deep breath.

"Wardog one, engaging!"

The two fighters sped towards each other.

The other pilot smiled, though it was covered by his mask.

"Heartbreak one, engaging!"

…

Meanwhile, the other Wvyern and Mobius One were flying side by side.

"I didn't think there would be other Strangereal pilots around." The pilot of the Wyvern said. "To whom do I owe the pleasure of flying against?"

Mobius One looked at the Wvyern: it's folding winglets were painted bright yellow, and the tail of the craft had a thirteen emblazoned upon it. "ISAF 118th Squadron, Call sign: Mobius One." _Apparently this guy hasn't fought me yet._

"Erusean air force, 156th wing. Call sign: Yellow thirteen. Pleasure to meet you, Mobius One." The Wyvern banked lazily in the sky. "Now then, shall we get this dance started?"

…

"What's going on?" Talisman watched the two pairs of fighters weave through the sky.

"They're, what do you call it, 'fighting'?" Cipher said with a smirk: neither of the two pairs seemed very willing to use any ammo, preferring to just fly around each other.

"Fighting." Talisman shook his head.

"In any event, we're on call if anything happens." Cipher's Spearhead circled around the perimeter at a leisurely pace.

…

…

Eventually, the Wyverns ran out of gas and had to retreat, prompting the Spearheads to do the same.

"Did you enjoy your dance?" Talisman asked lightly.

"Like dancing with an angel." Blaze said with a light laugh.

"It is a little worrying though." Mobius One said.

"Yeah? Those were people you knew, right?" Cipher asked.

"Yeah."

"So there are others out here besides us; not that surprising if you stop to think about it." Cipher reasoned, stopping over the designated landing site with his VTOL engines.

"Razgriz squadron, SkyEye here, report your situation." Blaze heard over the radio.

"Razgriz One to SkyEye, we engaged two BaCues and some support vehicles. The enemy didn't do a lot of shooting, so they may have been a recon force." Blaze said.

"SkyEye, copy. Good work. Razgriz squadron, you're cleared to land, don't kick up too much dust now."

…

Blaze clambered out of the cockpit to the scene of a few of the rebel men talking with the tall, dark man that guarded Cagalli.

"Probably talking about if they should move the base." Cipher said, upon seeing the same picture. "They really should. If that tiger's as good as his reputation then we need to move."

…

That tiger, Andrew Waltfield, was in the radar room of the Lesseps, watching his men crunch numbers based on the recon data that the lone surviving scout BaCue brought back.

"What did you think of the enemy pilots?" Andrew asked the mercenary pilots after watching the map display narrow down on possible locations.

"They're good." Captain Bartlett said with a laugh. "If there's a fight it's going to be one hell of a show."

Andrew smiled. "It sounds like you're not taking them seriously."

Bartlett chuckled. "Except one of them, they're all still wet behind the ears." He pushed the image of insignia of Galm from his mind. "Once the battle starts we can keep them busy, no problem."

"If only high command gave us DINNs for you two to fly." Andrew sighed. "Talent like yours shouldn't be wasted. Radar! How goes the targeting?"

The map had narrowed down the possible rebel base location to a thin ring with the Lesseps at its center like a giant wheel.

"We have some possible locations based on the rebel's past behavior." The radar operator said.

The targeting map circled certain areas on the map.

"Y'know, you could've just let us fly over there to scout." Bartlett said matter-of-factly.

"I could have, but it wouldn't be polite to the rebels." Andrew said with a smirk. "Gunners, fire on the spot that's least likely to contain the rebel base."

…

The Aces of Strangereal felt a soft tug in the stomachs, before hearing what sounded like an explosion far in the distance.

"I guess that's the Lesseps." Blaze muttered.

Cagalli waved it off. "They do this every time. Ignore them."

…

"Alright, that should do it." Andrew stretched, before pouring himself some coffee. "All pilots get some sleep; we'll begin the real operation at 0200 hours."

…

[Night: 1:45 AM, 0145]

…

Blaze woke up to a sharp tug in his stomach, like the rest of the Aces.

Almost by instinct, he headed towards his Spearhead cockpit, like the rest of the Aces.

"Looks like you got the memo, too." Blaze heard Cipher say.

"Yeah." He replied. "Something big is going to happen."

The rebels had, after deliberation, decided to move the base tomorrow.

That is, a few hours from right now.

…

Suddenly, Blaze felt the urge to take off into the air. Trusting in his instincts, he brought full power to the VTOL engines and lifted a meter off the ground.

He then heard a massive explosion that sounded very, very close to them.

Confusion reigned in the base as the Razgriz took off into the night sky.

…

"No hit, say again, no hit; sorry captain, we missed." An operator on the Lesseps said.

Andrew shrugged. "No problem. Readjust and continue firing."

"Four heat signatures detected from probable rebel base; calibrating new firing solution based on their data."

…

"Blaze, we got company." Cipher said while staring at his infrared display. "It's those two from yesterday."

"Roger that. All aircraft, you are cleared to engage." Blaze said, receiving three affirmatives in reply.

"I don't like flying at night." Talisman muttered.

"Makes all of us." Mobius One sighed.

…

An X-02 Wyvern roared into the battlefield and dropped two bombs into the base air space.

…

Blaze involuntarily squinted as the night sky was illuminated by a massive explosion.

"Shit, they got FAEBs!" Mobius one snarled, accelerating at full power to catch the Wyvern that zoomed away from the explosions of the Fuel Air Explosive Bombs.

A second later, a shrill sound filled the air as the base exploded once more.

…

"Second strike, effective; they're probably not getting up from that." The Lesseps operator said with some satisfaction.

Waltfield nodded. "Mop up."

…

"Whoa, whoa. When did they get so close?!" Talisman jinked sharply to dodge a sudden barrage of fire from several clusters of heat sources from the ground. "They got SAMs, watch your back."

Mobius One, meanwhile, had caught up with the Wvyern after its bombing run and was busy chasing it down with spurts of Vulcan fire.

"Blaze, what should we do?"

Blaze looked around for a moment. "Two, with me, we're hitting the ground. Four, you're supporting three. Keep an eye out for the other fighter."

"Copy."

…

Mobius One and the Bombing Wyvern flew and matched each other move for move…which was not a comforting thought, as said Wyvern flew over the rebel base and would ceaselessly strafe it with machine gun fire at every available opportunity despite the Spearhead hounding on its tail.

"Mobius One, I'm here for support." Talisman said, flying to the two heat blips zipping across the sky.

"Don't need it; hit the damned ground targets." Mobius One said tersely.

…

"Shit, I wish we packed bombs." Cipher said, pouring Vulcan fire onto a heat cluster, and then banking and accelerating away as soon as he heard his threat alarm go off.

"Yeah." Blaze broke off from a strafing run on a BaCue to avoid a half dozen Surface to Air Missiles flying at him. He momentarily considered using the air-to-air missiles on ground targets, but then remembered that this was not Strangereal, and his Spearhead was not packed with the all-purpose seeker missiles that were ubiquitous back in his home.

As Blaze dodged yet another wave of SAMs he felt a sudden urge to jink hard in the opposite direction. So he did.

He then felt a shudder and saw streams of bullets fly past his canopy.

Blaze pulled up hard with the VTOL engines, cutting his speed sharply.

The Wyvern behind him zipped below him and then pulled up high into the sky.

"One, you alright?" Cipher asked, looking at a wisp of smoke from Blaze's craft.

"I took a few hits, but I'm still good." Blaze said, sparing a glance to his display. "Three, heads up; second Wyvern moving in on your position."

"Mobius One, copy."

…

"The enemy pilots are good; we've lost two of our light squads already." The operator on the Lesseps said.

Andrew scowled. "Have them take cover under the BaCues; how long until they reach the rebel base?"

"Two minutes, sir."

He nods. "Fire third round, flares. Upon detonation, all units will advance at top speed to the base."

"Roger."

…

Mobius One heard his warning alarm go off, and jinked to avoid the missile that he knew was behind him.

The momentary opening allowed the Wyvern he was chasing to break off and dive for the base once more.

Mobius One gritted his teeth and dove as well, spinning to avoid the bullets that he imagined would be coming.

"What's with this guy. His senses are exceptional…" Yellow 13 breathed, chasing after the now diving Mobius One.

"Don't worry about it, two; bombs away." Heartbreak One said, dropping his last two bombs while pulling up sharply.

Mobius One flinched when the bombs went off and pulled up hard, feeling his heart skip a beat when the absurdly large dust cloud filled his vision.

He then heard the ping of bullets impacting themselves on his fuselage, before jinking despite the dust cloud into the night sky.

…

The battlefield suddenly became bright as four flares exploded in mid-air.

"What the hell…" Talisman breathed, looking down on the ground and seeing the veritable swarm of vehicles racing toward the rebel base.

"Shit. Looks like he got us." Cipher muttered, strafing the ZAFT forces now that he could see where they were. "Blaze, we should get out of here."

Blaze looked at the ground, at the units swarming into the Rebel base. "Razgriz, we're pulling out."

"What?! We can't just-" Mobius One started to say, ignoring the missile alarms in his cockpit.

"We don't have the equipment, three. All Razgriz aircraft, disengage and return to the Archangel at top speed."

Blaze then heard the threat alarm go off, and felt the hair on his neck stand up. He then saw the Wyverns suddenly dive for the deck. "Shit. Razgriz, dive! Dive!"

The six aircraft flew low as a series of explosions filled the airspace.

…

"Stonehenge rounds, detonation confirmed. Effectiveness unknown."

Andrew sipped on his coffee. "Pretty useful thing that mercenary gave us, total denial of air superiority. Continue firing, cover our ground forces."

…

"Stonehenge?!" Mobius One breathed, before needing to focus on the two Wyverns turning to engage him despite the low flight ceiling.

"Dammit. We're getting Mobius One and then getting the hell out of here. Razgriz, on me!" Blaze roared.

Talisman rolled to avoid some sporadic SAM fire from the ground. "There's no way he came up with this plan on a whim." He muttered to himself, with his microphone on.

"What could've possibly given you that idea?" Cipher said with no small amount of sarcasm as he accelerated with full afterburners towards the dogfight in front of him.

Mobius One, upon hearing his threat alarm, banked and turned as hard as he could, cutting his engines in the process.

The Terminator behind him raced up to meet him with its machine gun firing at full pace.

Mobius One toggled his VTOL engines and spun in midair.

Yellow 13 raced past the spinning Spearhead and heard bullets impact his fuselage.

Mobius One reoriented himself with some difficulty, his g-force sensors practically screaming at his idiotic maneuver.

"Wow, that guy's nuts." Captain Bartlett said, before heading around in a wide circle, with the intent to continue the fight. "Two, you alright there?"

"Heartbreak two, I'm ok." Yellow 13 said, watching the readout on his craft barely change. "Rejoining formation."

…

"Razgriz three, say your status."

Mobius One sighed as he flew away from the rebel base. "I took a few hits, but I'm ok. Damn." He resisted the urge to punch something.

"Yeah."

The four aircraft flew low away from the now captured rebel base, before clearing the combat area and the repeated bombardment from the Lesseps, then climbing, and finally zooming off at top speed.

…

"This is Heartbreak one to the Tiger Den; enemy fighters are gone, you can stop shooting now." Andrew heard over the radio.

"Tiger Den, got it." The operator sighed. "Sir, those pilots are really something; hard to believe they're Naturals."

"Who are you talking about? Ours or theirs?" Andrew asked, stretching.

"Both."

…

…

Kuzzey, taking the night shift as the communications officer so Miriallia can sleep, felt himself roused by an incoming call alert.

"This is Razgriz one to Archangel. Archangel, do you copy?"

"Uh, this is the Archangel. Blaze, you're back really soon." Kuzzey replied.

"Yeah. We screwed it up big time. Do we have clearance to land?"

_Messed it up? How? _Kuzzey couldn't help but wonder. "Uh, yeah. I think. Hanger one is clear."

"Roger that; Razgriz three, you're first."

…

Murdoch woke up to find four Spearheads that weren't supposed to be back for at least a week.

"What gives?" He asked one of the technicians examining Mobius One's aircraft.

"I heard they failed the mission." The technician replied, shaking his head. "The Desert Tiger's as good as his rep."

Murdoch sighed. "Oh well. Just more work for us."

…

"We've just received word from the rebels." Murrue said, after Blaze had given her an emergency briefing. "The cell that you were attached to was summarily rounded up and arrested."

Blaze sighed. "My apologies, we weren't able to do anything for them."

Murrue frowned. "You did what you could. The other rebels are willing to lend us all the support they can muster in exchange for our continued support; it seems like that cell was the largest and most well organized."

Blaze thought back to the level of organization exhibited in the base, and couldn't help but feel mild despair for their future endeavors.

"Regardless, the Archangel's going to dry dock soon. Razgriz is off duty until further notice."

Blaze saluted and left the bridge.

"Can't we just leave the rebels to the ZAFT, captain?" Natarle asked.

"If we can get the ZAFT off our backs any other way, we could." Murrue replied. "But as things are, if we let ZAFT do what they want, we will be pursued and then sunk."

Natarle grumbled something under her breath. "For their first performance in the sky, the Razgriz didn't seem to do that well."

Mu knocked on the wall to announce his arrival. "A surprise night attack with a low flight ceiling; I'm amazed any of them came out of it alive." He said.

…

"Kira!" Kira Yamato heard someone call him through his exhaustion.

Turning off the simulator, he stumbled out of the cockpit of the Strike.

"Jesus, kid; when's the last time you slept?!" Blaze demanded, looking at the disheveled boy.

"A while ago." Kira mumbled.

Blaze sighed. "You're hereby banned from the Strike until you've gotten proper rest."

Kira looked at him.

Blaze stared back. "Training is good, but a pilot that can't perform at his best is just asking to be shot."

Kira nodded, still tired, and trudged off to sleep.

"Damn." Blaze watched Kira leave.

"What's up?" Cipher asked.

The four aces were helping with the maintenance and customization of their crafts.

"The kid's not listening to anyone." Blaze sighed. "He's going to burn himself out at this rate."

"If only he had a girlfriend." Cipher said lightly.

…

Meanwhile, Kira had trudged to his room and crashed into his bed.

His eyes were a solid shade of purple, and his head was amazingly clear.

It took him a while to fall to sleep despite his weariness.

…

"How're you holding up, Flay?" Sai asked her.

Flay was brushing up her hair. "I wish daddy could contact the Federation soldiers from here." She pouted.

"Flay…" Sai started.

Flay pointed her brush at him. "I'm not stupid." The brush went back to her hair. "Earth is jammed really badly right now and there are no satellites, so it can't be helped, but…" She sighs. "I just want to be out of here. We're civilians, Sai. Kira, too." She adds after Sai opened his mouth.

"Besides." Flay puts down her brush, and glances at the door to her room to ensure that it was closed. "My dad thinks there's more to this war than just two sides hating each other."

…

While all that conversing was going on, the Archangel was being towed by an unmarked and suspiciously powerful tugboat along the coast of eastern Africa.

Soon enough, the Archangel was towed into a dry dock by the end of the day.

…

Murrue let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"It's a good thing we weren't sighted." Natarle sighed. "Should we go, captain?"

"Yeah; let's greet our benefactors."

…

Murrue, now off the ship, saluted the man that met her next to the ship.

"Thank you for your assistance; we were really in a bind." Murrue said.

The man spoke with an accent she wasn't familiar with. "It's not a problem; it's not every day we get to work on such a beautiful ship."

Murrue smiles. "She's in your capable hands, then."

The man proudly thumps himself on the chest. "Not to worry. We are Gründer, we can make anything!"

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Ultimately, I was looking for a crossover on a scale larger than just "oh four guys are now here.".

Let's see how it works out.

Amendment:

It's been pointed out that they would be in the Indian Ocean, not the Pacific. This is what I get for not using an actual map; thank you for pointing that out~

There could be two (in-story) justifications for this:

1\. India doesn't exist anymore (and the guys in the EFA doesn't want an ocean named after a country? I dunno. Racism makes people do weird things)

2\. Sai just read whatever the computer display said.

Take your pick. :3


	7. Stage 6x - Astray

[During the Archangel's week on the ground]

Rau Le Cruset read through the report he received for what he feels is the fifteenth time.

The ruins of Heliopolis had generated some light patterns that suggested a battle, and Rau, by virtue of both being the closest ship that mobilized and by being in hot water for letting the Archangel go repeatedly, was tasked to find out exactly what had happened in the colony debris field.

He had also received a discreet order from Patrick Zala to start grooming Athrun as an officer.

"What do you make of this, Athrun?" Rau passed the report to Athrun, who scanned it quickly.

"It could just be two junk guilds fighting over the scraps." Athrun said with disgust.

"That's why we're going to find out." Cruset said with a light laugh.

"And the battle plan, sir…?"

"Is as we discussed, Athrun. Don't be nervous; you'll be fine." Rau smiled.

…

…

Athrun, according to the battle plan, is responsible for leading two fresh recruits into the debris for scouting purposes.

Said two recruits were not exactly happy about their first mission being a non-combat mission, but the prospects of being under the son of Patrick Zala closed their mouths.

Rau was to sweep in later with a combat team in case something happens.

…

…

"Athrun, you're cleared for launch."

"Roger. Athrun Zala, Aegis, heading out."

Athrun's Aegis was overhauled with new armor. To the eternal ire (and no small amount of respect) of the ZAFT ship engineering crew the Phase Shift Armor module performed just as well regardless of what kind of armor the Aegis had, provided it didn't exceed some built in limitations within the on-board computer.

Regardless of the reason, the Aegis was now repaired up to its brand new condition…missing a beam saber and wielding a makeshift beam rifle, but brand new nonetheless.

…

Athrun idly dodged a few pieces of debris as he coasted through the ruins of Heliopolis, his mind elsewhere.

Deep down, he was both terrified and thankful of the appearance of the unknown pilots of the EFA. Terrified, because the four aces have demonstrated again and again that they were superior in terms of skill, and thankful, because they gave him a reason to fight, and gave him a target other than his best friend.

A small part of him also reminded him to thank whoever decided that stealing the G-units was a good idea.

Athrun involuntarily shuddered at the idea of the four aces piloting the super powered prototypes.

"Sir, we're coming close to our inspection point." He heard one of the rookies say.

He marveled at their ability to keep pace with him despite the debris field.

"Understood; keep an eye out. The Junkers might still be around."

"Roger. Permission to speak frankly, sir?"

"Go ahead." Athrun stared at his radar.

"Do you think there's really anything left here? This place is trashed."

"It doesn't hurt to be careful." Athrun said. "Carelessness will get you killed."

"Yes sir. But the demons aren't here." The rookie laughed.

…

Athrun then heard a beeping, and felt himself frozen for a fraction of a second.

"Scatter!" He ordered.

The three units split and flew in different directions.

Athrun turned around when he had flown far enough and saw an explosion mark where he was.

"Captain, we're currently in combat, requesting support." Athrun has long since abandoned the notion of fighting alone with his pride.

"Understood, we'll be there momentarily."

…

Athrun looked around and saw…nothing. The debris obscured his vision at every turn, forcing him to engage his engines and move around to find this potential attacker.

He then heard a warning alarm denoting fire coming from behind him.

Athrun propelled himself upwards and turned around, just in time to see a missile fly toward his face.

Athrun raised his shield in defense and the missile exploded (relatively) harmlessly upon the shield. He then took this opportunity to rocket away from the oddly thick dust cloud to properly see his enemy.

It was a GINN. A high mobility type with its oversized back-mounted engines, painted white.

In fact, he would've thought it was Yzak's unit if not for the fact that the right arm of the unit was painted red.

"Unknown GINN, state your intentions or you will be destroyed." Athrun declared on an open frequency almost instinctively.

He heard a laugh in reply, from a voice that sounded familiar but he couldn't place where. "That's not something you should say when combat has started, buddy."

Athrun gritted his teeth, and leveled his rifle at the unknown GINN.

The Unknown GINN responded by…vanishing from sight.

"Damn!" Athrun realized too late that the debris created far too many blind spots, and he responded by boosting and climbing upwards…

…before he stopped to avoid running into a stream of bullets.

Athrun twisted his unit's arm around to the direction of the bullet stream and fired back blindly in reply.

The red and white GINN jinked away from the Aegis's counter fire.

"Captain!" Athrun heard his rookies yell.

"Ignore him! There's something here that he wants, find it!" Athrun roared while keeping his eyes locked on the GINN.

"Good call, captain; you've got some good instincts." He heard the other pilot say with a laugh. "But you're a little late to the party there."

"We'll see about that!" Athrun fired at the GINN while charging forward at full speed.

The other GINN dodged the beam rifle fire, and waited until the Aegis was close enough to swing with its beam saber. Then, with a swift maneuver of his engines, the GINN took aim at the back of the Aegis with its rocket launcher, and pulled the trigger.

Athrun fired his engines for a brief second and barely evaded the rocket that was supposed to damage those engines. The rocket flew into a nearly piece of debris and exploded harmlessly instead.

Athrun twisted around with one of the Aegis's leg out in a roundhouse kick.

The GINN blocked it with his sword, and threw a punch in return.

Athrun blocked it with his shield.

_This might take a while. _He thought grimly.

...

While the two units were trading blows the two rookies flew into the largely intact piece of a warehouse.

"What do you think is in there?" Rookie one said.

"Hopefully? What we came here for. What do you think about the captain?" Rookie two replied.

The two managed to catch a few of the oddly savage melee between the two units. "Nevermind him being the son of a top brass, the guy's got balls." Rookie one said with a shake of his head.

Rookie two laughed. "You got that right."

Rookie one turned to the hangar. "Let's sweep this. Turning on lights."

The light on the head of the GINN turned on, and the two made a short sweep around the outside of the hangar in a minute.

"Don't see anything. Move on?" Rookie two said, glancing back at the melee every so often.

"Yeah."

…

Athrun, meanwhile, was getting angry.

"Damn, get the hell away from me!" He snarled.

The GINN was sticking to super close range combat. Close enough that every time the Aegis tried to swing in with its beam saber the GINN would stop the attack by forcibly hitting the Aegis's arm.

"I know what you're thinking, buddy." The GINN's pilot said, with an audible grin.

Athrun was briefly grateful that his communications was off. "Yeah, and you're still annoying." Athrun tried to knee the GINN, but the GINN blocked it with its sword. "Get that sword out of my face!"

Athrun was losing his composure.

…

Rau Le Cruset, meanwhile, was taping the fight from a fair distance.

…

Suddenly, Athrun noted that Rookie one's unit was no longer responding.

"Oy, Unit two. Are you ok?" Athrun's momentary distraction cost him a punch to the Aegis's face. Athrun then fired his head mounted Vulcans to try and get some distance.

The GINN blocked with his sword again, and Athrun took this instant to rocket forward into the other GINN for a full body tackle.

He heard the other pilot grunt with some satisfaction, before rocketing away at full speed.

"Unit two, respond."

…

Unit two, meanwhile, was dead like the debris around him.

…

"C-captain! There's a new unit-" Athrun heard before the line went dead.

"Unit three! Dammit!" Athrun turned to see… the other GINN keeping his distance.

…

…

"Gai, you ok over there?" The pilot of the red and white suit asked.

"Startup sequence normal. Status is all green." Murakumo Gai said, marveling at this new unit he managed to find.

"Ok, I think I'm done here too; can we go home now?"

Gai looked at the empty dock next to it. "Yeah; we'll need to move on."

"Roger that."

…

Athrun levelled his gun at the other GINN, cursing himself for not taking a shot sooner.

The other GINN swerved and took cover behind floating debris.

Soon enough Athrun saw two engine lights escape from the combat area.

"Athrun, you did well." Rau Le Cruset said lightly.

"Thank you, sir." Athrun growled.

"We've recovered one of the rookies for some quite useful data. Losses are unavoidable, but a reality of war, Athrun." Rau said gently.

Athrun took a deep breath; the melee battle had gotten to him. "Right, I understand; Athrun Zala, returning to ship."

…

…

For the next few days the ship's intelligence crew poured over the data, piecing together anything that seemed relevant about this new, unknown unit.

They also spent some attention on the red-and-white unit, but the unit data was already within most common databases (including the ZAFT mercenary registry), so they ignored it after the first five minutes.

Rau Le Cruset had briefed Athrun on the unit that fought with him when the data came out.

"It belongs to a mercenary that is affiliated with the Serpent Guild." Rau had said.

"Serpent Guild? How did they get access to a high mobility GINN?" Athrun wondered.

"Not sure. We've never seen a unit with that particular paint job before either. Either way, they were employed by the Clyne faction when Siegel's daughter was missing."

Athrun remembered the man playing cards on the ship. "Oh, so that's who he was."

Rau nodded. "Have you met the pilot before?"

Athrun shifted a little. "Yes, he was aboard the ship during the...parley."

Rau looked thoughtful. "And I take it you did not meet his unit during the exchange?"

Athrun shook his head. "No sir. It's the first time I've seen it."

Rau smiled. "I understand. You're dismissed."

Athrun salutes and turns to leave, but Rau stopped him for one last comment.

"By the way, I recorded your fight. You've gotten better, Athrun."

Athrun froze.

Rau laughed.

…

Patrick Zala felt an odd mixture of happiness and despair at watching his son pilot a machine and go into old-fashioned fisticuffs with another unit in a zero gravity no holds barred brawl.

Athrun Zala felt an odd mixture of fear and exasperation at the fact that he was now considered something of a local hero and very well respected among the ZAFT rank and file as a "total badass."

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Side story, featuring the Serpent Guild showing up for realsies this time. (Kinda, sorta...)

I'm probably going to do more like this, and they're probably going to be about as short as this.

I can't pad very well. :(


	8. Stage 7 - The Tiger

[At the Gründer industry dry dock]

[Four days after the Aces returned]

…

Murdoch wasn't in a good mood.

Natarle wasn't in a good mood.

Murrue was in a great mood.

And all for the same reasons: The Archangel was (nearly) fully repaired.

…

"I don't understand how those guys can work so quickly." Murdoch said to anyone who would listen.

Given that it was his fifth time posing that question nobody was really listening.

"I don't understand it. This is a prototype ship that doesn't even exist in official records!" Murdoch continued after realizing that nobody was listening. "How can they manufacture things they don't even know so fast?!"

The other mechanics could care less; they got a blessed break after the previous week of trying to perform miracles, and none of them wanted to spend it doing Q and A.

…

"Gründer, huh…Who've thought the South Belka munition plant would've made it here too." Cipher said, after Blaze filled him in on the details.

Gründer (formerly the South Belka munition plant) was a pivotal player in the Circum-Pacific war, which Blaze participated in. While he did not know it (and Talisman felt no need to worry Blaze) Gründer was, in effect, one of the main reasons why the Circum-Pacific war began in the first place. Regardless of their political alignment, the company was a notable producer of arms and equipment in Strangereal, and was often at the forefront of aviation and production technology, facts widely known by a majority of Strangereal.

"I know, right?" Blaze laughed. "It's good luck for us for a change."

Blaze was referring to the new and improved Spearheads that were now sitting in the Archangel's hangars.

Due to the lack of pilots to fly them, an extra set of Spearheads were converted for the Aces to use, so that if there ever will be an extended operation they could switch fighters immediately for the roles as they appear.

As such, the two sets of Spearheads were given different designations to denote their differences in specifications, with the F-7D-C name thrown out since the Gründer's mechanics thought it sounded stupid (further adding to Murdoch's ire).

The new crafts were given the unofficial name of F-8 Super Spearhead, split into two outfits, type A and type B.

F-8 A "Super Spearhead" had every available upgrade possible within the four days to maximize their mobility in the air and their staying power in an air supremacy battle against, as a Gründer employee proudly exclaimed, "any idiot dumb enough to fly against you!"

They also had engines with reinforcements and extra heat sinks (along with emergency coolant) once Murdoch mentioned how often the Aces burn out their engines.

The F-8 B (Also Super Spearhead) was a multirole fighter outfitted for ground assault roles, packing lots of bombs and short range Vulcan guns, as well as one conformal hard point that allows it to carry a Corinthos Anti-Ship Missile, the same kind used by the Archangel. To quote the Gründer crew, "KABOOM! HEH heh heh…"

The Gründer crew also, and somewhat worryingly, restored the Duel to operational condition without anyone asking or having access to the design documents that would make such an operation possible.

For that reason, Natarle was worried.

"Captain, if they could reverse engineer a cockpit for the Duel from _nothing"_ Natarle neglected to mention the fact that the cockpit block was merely mothballed underneath some extra-thick tarp and not actually destroyed "There's no telling what they're capable of; these people are dangerous, captain."

Murrue for one was just happy that her ship no longer looked weather-beaten and derelict. "If they're an issue I'm sure the high command would have addressed it by now."

Natarle grimaced. She had done some independent research on the federation database and found out that Gründer was a contractor for both branches of the EFA, and as such they were, in effect, untouchable.

"But still-!"

Murrue waggled a finger, still in a good mood. "Not another word, Natarle. Let's just enjoy the day off."

Natarle sighed. The two of them had attended the same officer school and she had heard of Murrue's penchant for unorthodoxy, but to imagine it surfacing now of all times!

Murrue looked back at the ship. "I'm sure it's going to happen any time now; we're going to be busy soon, Natarle."

"Captain?"

Murrue turned to face her Executive Officer. "The Rescue operation."

…

…

[Aboard the Lesseps]

…

…

Andrew Waltfield, the Desert Tiger, was having an off day. Even his best coffee brew didn't seem to help matters.

He read and reread the order in his hands, hoping to find some loophole he could exploit, before finally giving up and tossing the memo into a shredder.

"I don't believe this." He muttered.

"Sir?" Martin DaCosta, his second in command, asked.

"Do you believe it? I don't believe it." Waltfield continued to pace around the bridge, as if he didn't hear.

"Is there something wrong, sir?" Martin asked again.

Waltfield stopped his pacing. "High command wants the rebels to be summarily executed."

Martin blinked. "But, they're rebels and Naturals, so isn't it, well, natural?"

He then instinctively backed off a few paces when Waltfield glared at him.

The Desert Tiger leaned against the captain's seat. "Never say that line again, DaCosta; we are ZAFT, we fight for our freedom. We do not take it from others without a good reason."

"But the Bloody Valentine-"

"Is a tragedy and the EFA will pay for it." Waltfield waved the argument away. "What high command is asking me is to commit these rebels to a similar fate. Those idiots."

"Then, maybe we can ask the rebels for help?" Aisha, Waltfield's very pretty blue-haired "lady friend", suggested.

"Ma'am? What do you mean?" Martin was not comfortable around the couple, to say the least.

"Oceania wants the princess of Orb." Aisha said softly. "And I don't think she would want to be separated from her little group, especially if we made her status known to the rest of the group."

Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) was also a holding of ZAFT, and at the moment was pressuring Orb consistently for them to renounce their neutrality and join ZAFT's side.

Andrew smirked at the idea. "If Oceania wants a prisoner, tell them to come fetch her themselves. We're strapped for resources as it is." Oceania was also surrounded by neutral holdings and was relatively safe from any major assault, unlike Africa which was experiencing attacks from the EFA on a near-daily basis.

Aisha giggled. "Aye aye."

…

[Archangel Bridge, three days later]

…

"It's finally happening?"

"It's finally happening."

Blaze and Ribbon filed into the briefing room.

A rebel message arrived a few minutes earlier, detailing the transfer of the captured rebel soldiers (and orb princess) from ZAFT-controlled Africa to Oceania.

"As you might expect, this is a golden opportunity for the rebels to free their comrades." Mu was tasked with the briefing today.

"Our primary enemies will probably be these." A picture of a purple GINN-like unit appeared on the screen. "AMF-101 DINN; it's the air superiority fighter of the ZAFT forces; compared to our Spearheads, they're practically better in every way." The DINN had three pairs of oversized wings on its back, and they deployed out in a fashion rather similar to that of a bug's. Blaze paid special attention to the shotgun weapon one of the video clips demonstrated, as well the pilot's apparent penchant to change altitudes very, very quickly.

"Question." Cipher raised his hand.

"Yeah?"

"Isn't this a trap?" Cipher said. "There's no reason for them to do something this obvious."

"That's what I thought." Mu admitted. "But trap or no this is an opportunity we can't pass up; besides, the rebels are going to free their comrades and we're honor-bound to help."

"Honor." Cipher chuckled. "Right."

"Either way, we're going up. I'm not letting my AWACS sit in a prison cell." Ribbon muttered.

Blaze shot him a glance. "That's that; when's the transfer, Mu?"

"Five hours from now. From our current position we'll reach the intercept point" Mu tapped a map projected behind him with a pointer "here in three hours, assuming we're flying at Strike's cruising speed."

The Strike did not have a very respectable cruising speed.

…

Fortunately, Gründer was able to fix that.

Or rather, they gave Kira an alternative.

The Strike was outfitted with what looked like an oversized ballistic missile taped to its Aile Strike pack.

With it, it would be able to fly into the battlefield without using its internal batteries. Unfortunately it had no internal computer and would need to be purged once Kira enters combat, unless he would rather fly through the battlefield very quickly and have no way to return.

"He would have to walk back." The Gründer employee said with a shrug when the problem of the return trip was brought up.

Once Kira was made known of this little quirk, he merely shrugged. "I just have to not lose the cruise pack, right? Easy enough."

"Man, all those hours in the simulator gave you some balls." Blaze said, surprised.

Kira smiled, and then frowned. "I felt kind of odd afterwards, but a good night's rest made me feel a lot better; I don't quite understand it either."

…

[Lesseps Bridge]

…

"Andrew, are we deploying as well?" Heartbreak One, a certain Captain Bartlett, asked.

"Yeah. We can't leave our ZAFT allies out to dry, either." Waltfield chuckled. "Can you maintain air superiority against the unknowns when they show up?"

"Shouldn't be too hard." Bartlett grinned.

…

[4 hours later]

[Over the Pacific (Previously Indian) Ocean]

…

"Blaze to Strike."

"Strike here, I can hear you."

"How's the cruise pack?" Blaze grinned.

Kira shuddered. "Terrifying." _and loud. _He didn't add.

Kira had also found out to his immense displeasure that the "Cruise Pack" had preciously little maneuverability, and noted with disappointment that he will have to ditch the oversized engine once he entered the battle area after all.

Also, the Gründer mechanic had overestimated the Strike's aerodynamic capabilities; the refurbished engine wasn't that much faster than the Aile Strike's engines when weight was accounted for.

"I'm so glad I'm not flying that thing." Mu said, watching the Strike through his Skygrasper cockpit.

"Makes the two of us." Tolle sighed, in his own Spearhead.

"Both of you are spineless." Kira laughed, trying to ignore the panic in his gut after hearing a particularly loud noise from somewhere in the Strike.

…

[Engagement zone]

…

"I got contacts." Cipher looked down at the splotch of dots on the radar. "This was a trap alright."

Blaze flipped a switch, arming his longest range missiles. "Like we didn't see this one coming; Razgriz, check in."

"Two." Cipher armed his missiles as well.

"Three." Mobius One cracked his neck.

"Four." Talisman rechecked his radar.

"We're going to wrestle the skies from the ZAFT." Blaze said, waiting for his missiles to get into range. "Is everyone ready?"

"You got it, chief." Cipher said lightly.

"What should we do?" Tolle asked.

"Tolle flight will enter the engagement after we have entered combat." Blaze heard the tone for the missile lock, and prayed that the Gründer missiles provided would be more effective than the local variant.

"We'll be with you, Tolle." Kira said.

"Right." Tolle gulped; it was going to be an actual battle for him and the three rookies in his flight.

"Razgriz, engage!" Blaze commanded.

"Fox three, fox three!" The four aces released their long range missiles.

…

"Enemy units are coming, looks like the captain's gut was spot on." One of the DINN pilots said as his radar beeped a warning.

"Yeah. All DINN units, scatter and engage! Destroy these rebels!" The DINN captain said.

"These things are going a little too fast." One of the DINN pilots said. "Do you see anything?"

"No, what the hell? Are they cloaked or something?" Another pilot complained.

The Six DINNs tasked to guard the prison ship were suddenly engulfed by explosions.

…

"Did that actually work?" Talisman was surprised.

"Given their armor, no. Close in and engage." Blaze ordered.

…

"Shit, what the hell was that?!" The DINN captain spat as his unit helpfully warned him that one of the arms on the DINN was missing.

"The missiles have duped signatures; first time I've seen a Spearhead use one." One of his squad members mused, before a beep on the radar made him look down. "Would explain why we thought they were fighters and not missiles; heads up, more rolling in."

"All units scatter and evade!"

…

"Ooh, bad move." Blaze grinned, and sighted the DINN that looked like the captain unit. "Razgriz, split up and take them down; watch your backs."

…

"They're the real deal this time." The ZAFT captain said. "All units intercept."

Six shotguns came up in response.

...

The four Aces of Strangereal jinked hard out of the way of a burst of shotgun fire.

"Jeez." Cipher corrected his plane and pointed his nose at the closest DINN and accelerated.

The DINN pointed his shotgun at Cipher in response, and fired.

Cipher jinked out of the way again.

The DINN followed Cipher with his gun.

The DINN then was propelled forward by a missile exploding into its wings.

The DINN turned around to find this new target.

Cipher turned around sharply to face the DINN's back and opened fire with all of his Vulcans, tearing the DINN's wings and causing it to drop to the water while trailing smoke.

"Good shot." Cipher said with a grin.

"As always." Blaze said lightly.

…

Mobius One heard his threat alarm scream at him as the DINN behind him launched a salvo of missiles.

He floored his accelerator and nosed upward to an almost vertical climb.

The DINN pilot smirked and fired a second salvo of missiles, just in case.

"That ammo bank is a little insane." Mobius One murmured, before cutting his speed as hard as he could and then turning around a full 180 degrees with his VTOL engines.

Mobius One then floored his accelerator along with the VTOL engines.

The DINN watched with some satisfaction as the missiles exploded…before raising his machine gun as the Spearhead he was supposed to have destroyed flew down at him, spewing fire from its oddly numerous front gun ports.

The DINN pilot fortunately had an intact sense of self preservation and raised his shotgun arm (the DINN's right) to protect his cockpit block, moments before his main engine cut out from damage.

Mobius One dove by the DINN and levelled out near the water surface. "Ribbon to all units: DINNs have weak front armor. Repeat, strike them in the head."

Talisman was flying over a DINN, matching its speed, when he heard this announcement.

He shrugged and then dove at the DINN with his guns blaring.

The DINN pilot heard his threat alarm go off, and dropped like a stone in response.

Talisman sighed and shook his head as the DINN delayed the perforation of its head by a mere few seconds before he pulled out of the dive and looked around for another target.

…

"Is it just me, or are these guys really bad at their jobs?" Blaze wondered as he rolled to dodge a shotgun blast aimed in his general direction.

"I don't think it's just you." Mobius One said as he charged at a DINN while banking side to side. "These guys are…" Mobius One fired a burst from his Vulcans, destroying the missiles the DINN had fired almost immediately. "…very, very by the book."

"Guess they don't get out much." Talisman braked and rolled behind the DINN that was trying to chase him, dodging a volley of machine gun fire in the process. "Fox two." His missile happily went after the DINN's engine and blew it to pieces.

Blaze scanned the field: All the DINNs had suffered some level of damage, but only two were actually out of commission. "These DINNs are pretty sturdy, all things considered. Second wave, you're cleared to engage."

"About time." Mu grumbled. "Mu La Flaga, engaging!"

…

The DINN pilots, confused and a bit cowed by the Spearheads that destroyed their cameras, responded to the second wave of lock warnings with confusion and indecisiveness.

"Run or you'll die." Blaze sighed.

Sure enough, the DINNs that didn't collect themselves in time were hit by the second volley of missiles, and fell from the skies.

"I count two ejects." Cipher stared at his camera as he flew by the DINNs that freshly hit the water. "Make that three." He said as he flew inverted over a DINN with its cockpit block open.

"Copy that. Rebel units, begin your approach." Blaze said, finally getting reception with the rebellion boats.

"Got it; thanks for your help, aces." A grateful voice on the line said.

"Alright, all units." Blaze turned and saw Kira shoot out the wings on the last DINN with pinpoint precision from a terrifyingly far distance. "Hit the enemy escort ships; neutralize their combat power."

"Blaze, enemy choppers taking off." Talisman said, watching the blocky ZAFT helicopters take off from the enemy's escort ships.

"They must be pretty desperate; Razgriz, take them out; Tolle flight, hit the ships."

…

"Captain! The Spearheads are…"

"Swat them from the sky!" The captain of the ZAFT escort flagship said, shouting over his operator. "We can't lose to some goddamned Spearheads! What will the rest of the forces think?!"

_The demons from space are real. _Most of the operators thought in unison.

…

The ZAFT helicopter pilots were not having a good day.

First they were told that their mission was going to be an easy one; provide backup support in case the enemy was able to somehow throw off the squad of DINNs and attack the ship.

Then they were told to deploy because all the DINNs were wiped out.

And _now _they're watching two Spearheads fly straight into their ranks at a worrying speed.

…

Blaze pulled up after his attack run through the ZAFT helicopters. "Is that all of them?" He asked, looking at his radar.

"I think so." Mobius One said. "Talisman?"

Talisman and Cipher were told to circle around the helicopters and mop up if the first attack didn't get all of the helicopters.

"I don't see anything else in the air besides us." Talisman said.

"How's Tolle flight doing?" Cipher asked, training a camera onto the prison escort ships.

"Considering the circumstances, pretty good." Blaze laughed.

Tolle and the three rookies were able to safely bomb the escort ships with no regard to any potential threats, since the Aces had taken out the enemy air cover, and the ships were too reliant on said air cover to pack anti-aircraft artillery.

In a matter of minutes the prison escort fleet was disabled and the rebels moved to capture the main ship.

…

Mobius One suddenly felt his stomach twist.

_Shit. _"All units dive; don't go above two thousand feet!" He shouted.

The Rookies wasn't quite sure what he was talking about, but dove along with the Aces all the same and only levelled out their planes once the Aces had done so as well.

The skies above them lit up with explosions, and it was a moment before radio contact among the fighters could be re-established.

"They have Stonehenge alright." Mobius One snarled.

"All units, keep your heads down. Rebs, get a move on, we don't have a lot of time left." Blaze warned, using his VTOL engines to float near the prison ship.

"We're working on it." The Rebel in charge of the radio had fear in his voice. "Just give us a little more time."

Blaze circled around the ship and found the Rebels fighting hard to obtain control of the bridge.

Blaze then flew right over the bridge and oriented his Spearhead's nose to the window.

The ZAFT troops took one look at the Spearhead nearly touching the bridge glass with its multitude of infantry-decimating Vulcan guns and surrendered almost immediately.

"There's your time, now get to it." Blaze said gruffly. Stonehenge was getting on his nerves.

…

"Ok, we have control. All air units follow us and let's get out of here." The rebel said. "Deploying jammers."

A few men had placed themselves all around the ship, and deployed their jamming mechanisms on cue.

Between the roar of a second wave of Stonehenge fire and the jammers, the fighters and the prison ship (and the Strike) were able to slip away easily in broad daylight.

…

"Heartbreak one to Tiger's Den, cease fire, the enemy has left the combat area."

"Understood; are you sure this was a good idea, Captain Bartlett?" Martin DaCosta asked.

"They stole a prison ship. You'll get plenty of chances to hit the enemy base this way." Bartlett replied with a gruff laugh. _Tell me this wasn't your idea of a good strategy, kid. _He thought inwardly.

By virtue of being a lightly armed but heavily armored ship built to contain all sorts of people unsavory to the owner of said ship, all prison ships were equipped with an extremely robust GPS system.

The Rebel Jamming system was able to jam this system for as long as the Jammers are running.

Said Jammers were deployed for the purposes of "getting away", not "hiding the ship".

…

…

…

An hour later, the Prison ship pulled into a sheltered dock, with their EFA allies landing nearby in a similarly sheltered VTOL base.

"How'd you guys build something like this?" Blaze wondered, looking at the oddly well-built surroundings of the underground landing pads.

"This place was an EFA supply depot before ZAFT took over." One of the rebels replied. "The EFA abandoned it, and we found it."

Blaze had a feeling it wasn't exactly abandoned when the rebels took over.

"You think ZAFT had this place?" Cipher muttered.

"Horrible place for a hideout if they did." Blaze muttered back.

"ZAFT never found this one, don't worry." The rebel in front of them laughed. "You can rest easy, aces."

…

…

"Thanks for busting us out, Ribbon." Neil said with a small laugh.

"I wasn't about to let my AWACS rot in jail." Ribbon grinned. "Did ZAFT do anything?"

"The Desert Tiger is pretty civil. We were expecting a trial before the other guys showed up." Neil replied with a shrug.

"Other guys?" Blaze frowned.

"Oceania." Cagalli's tall, dark guardian replied. "ZAFT's secure foothold on the surface."

Cipher clicked his tongue. "I see. So those were the guys we flew against?" The man nodded. "No wonder."

"They haven't seen much action after they secured the area, I take it?" Talisman asked.

The man shrugged. "I heard Oceania is making some kind of move into Eurasia, but that's all I know."

"Interesting. I'm Blaze, nice to meet you." Blaze said suddenly, extending out a friendly hand. "I realized that I still have no idea who you are."

The man shook the offered hand. "Ledonir Kisaka." He said with a small smile.

"You form around here?" Cipher asked lightly.

Kisaka looked at Cipher, both of them keenly aware of Cipher's sharp intuition (and attention to the news). "Yes, I was born in Tassil."

_Not far from the Desert Dawn's base of operations, if I remember right. _Cipher thought. He then wondered idly if the people they've been dealing with so far are the Desert Dawn. "This rebellion has special meaning for you then, I take it?"

Kisaka nods, but only after a moment's hesitation.

_So he's certainly not EFA-friendly. Wonder why that is?_ Cipher thought.

…

…

…

The Tiger of the Desert was in a decent mood.

On one hand, they had pinpointed the position of the rebellion's base, and its summary destruction would ensure that ZAFT would secure its control over the region.

On the other hand, simply destroying a rebel cell wouldn't pacify the region, no matter how influential the cell is. Rebellion would just spring up again as long as the people feel oppressed.

_It all comes back to manpower. _Waltfield sighed.

"Something wrong, sir?" Martin DaCosta asked.

"Just a little deep in thought." Waltfield chuckled, taking a sip from his coffee mug. _Well, let's see how this goes._

…

[Next day, 10:00 AM, 1000 hours]

…

"Report!"

The rebel leaders (plus Blaze and Mu) looked up at the man gasping for air at the door to the room they deemed the headquarters.

"The Tiger of the Desert just sent us a message! They know about this place and they're attacking in two hours!"

Blaze and Mu traded a glance while the rebel leader stared at the messenger, thunderstruck.

The leader then graduated from dumb silence to sputtering while Blaze and Mu rushed out of the meeting room.

Blaze and Mu made it into the lounge before the rebel leader nearly screamed for all units to prepare for the inevitable ZAFT attack.

"How'd they find out?" Cipher asked, not sounding very surprised.

"Who knows? Either way we're looking at an attack in two hours. Any suggestions?" Mu said.

"Load up on missiles, wait until they show up, and then punch their face in." Cipher said with a wide yawn. "Nothing to it."

…

…

The two hours were spent getting ready for the inevitable fight, and passed all too quickly.

"Kira, are you going to be ok?" Blaze asked.

The young man was staring blankly at nothing from the cockpit of the Strike.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kira sighed. "It's just…what will happen if we win?"

Blaze scratched his head. "If we win? ZAFT will take the rebels seriously, and the EFA might consider an operation to retake Africa."

Kira blinked. "So the ZAFT hold on the area will be stronger in the long term?"

Blaze shrugged. "Probably."

Cipher clicked his radio, signaling his entrance into the conversation. "The EFA's been losing ground since the start of the war; it's hard to believe they'll have the manpower to take back anything."

"So this battle is ultimately meaningless." Kira sighed.

Cipher laughed at that. "Thought you figured that out ages ago."

"But if we know this is meaningless, then why are we fighting?" Kira sounded offended.

Talisman chipped in. "This battle is only meaningless for us because we have no investment in it. Look around the base; for them, this battle is far from meaningless."

"It would be better if we could talk it out." Kira said after a moment.

"It would, but talking is only effective if they want to listen." Talisman agreed.

"Love the chatter, but we're about to go into a battle right now." Mobius One interrupted. "Kid, don't fly with your head in the clouds; it'll get you killed."

Cipher laughed. "What he said. For now, focus on the enemy in front of you."

"But how…nevermind." Kira sighed again. Even though he had decided to fight, he was ultimately a civilian at heart.

…

…

Aboard the Lesseps, DaCosta sat in the captain's chair with no small amount of discomfort.

"Oy, DaCosta. Don't mess this up for us." Waltfield said cheerily from within his unit's cockpit.

"Sir, I still think we should ask for reinforcements before we attack." Martin said halfheartedly.

Waltfield waved it off with as much cheer. "You know they're not going to do that." They being the ZAFT high command. "Just do what you usually do, and it'll be fine."

"Yes, sir." DaCosta sighed.

"Worried about your boss?" Yellow 13 asked him.

DaCosta flinched; he still wasn't used to the mercenary pilots showing up seemingly at random, nor was he used to being addressed so casually by a Natural.

"Isn't it obvious?" He responded after a pause.

Yellow 13 had a barest hint of a laugh. "I suppose it would be; focus on your job, and he'll survive."

"Like I needed you to tell me that." DaCosta muttered.

…

"Razgriz is in the air." Blaze said after counting off his flight.

"Tolle flight, we're ready." Tolle said shakily, with his three rookies.

"Mu La Flaga, I'm up." Mu cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

"Kira Yamato, Strike, I'm ready." Kira's voice held the hint of a forced determination.

"Alright." Blaze took a deep breath. "All units, we will now commence the operation. Our target is the enemy flagship, Lesseps. Per our briefing, Razgriz will fly cover and Tolle flight will attack the ship."

"Fly hard, shoot straight." Tolle muttered repeatedly.

Blaze frowned a little. "Don't get too excited, Tolle, or you'll make mistakes. The Strike and Skygrasper are free to engage any target they see fit. Don't get killed out there."

"You're the boss." Mu said lightly.

"Understood." Kira took a deep, calming breath.

"The enemy may have Stonehenge rounds, so keep your heads down." Blaze finished. "Mobius One, how's everything looking?"

In the two hours of preparation, Mobius One had the bright idea of strapping discarded Radome units the rebels found to every Spearhead, with his craft acting as a "master" controller between him and the ground.

"Data feed seems to be ok." Mobius One replied. "How does it look on the ground?"

"Sky Eye here, it looks usable at least." Neil said, fiddling with his display. "It's no AWACS, that's for sure."

"An extra pair of eyes can't hurt." Blaze laughed.

…

…

…

The ZAFT advanced ground forces consisting of four BaCues heard a roar overhead as four Spearheads streaked by them.

"This is the scout unit. The enemy has launched a preemptive attack." The captain of the lead BaCue said to his microphone.

"As expected; don't get killed out there." Waltfield said.

The BaCues opened fire on the Spearheads as they banked and turned.

...

"Sir, all recon unit signals have been lost." An operator on the Lesseps said.

Martin blinked; that was way too fast.

…

"Nice shot, Kira." Tolle surveyed the now smoking BaCue corpses with surprise.

When the scout forces had turned around to fire at the Razgriz, the Strike had charged forward with a volley of beam rifle fire.

Two BaCues fell to the barrage, and the other two died from thrown beam rifles landing in their body.

"Best way to end the fight is to stop them from fighting." Kira muttered to himself.

...

"I'm a little worried about the kid." Cipher said to Blaze on a private line. "He's getting really good, but I don't think his mentality is keeping up."

"Sooner or later he's gonna snap and kill a lot of people, I take it?" Blaze said lightly.

"Yeah."

"We'll rope him in if that happens." Blaze said confidently.

"I hope we're up to it if that happens." Cipher muttered.

...

"There it is." Mobius One breathed, looking at the large signature on his radar.

Talisman squinted and tried to find it with his eyes. "It's either still too far or it blends with the sand really damn well."

Blaze was about to agree, before he felt a tug to his stomach. He checked his altitude…

…still below Stonehenge's limit.

"All units break off! Evade!" He said as he turned sharply.

A veritable wave of missiles, bullets, and anti-air fire filled the skies.

"Flight ceiling restriction removed! Get moving!" Blaze roared, climbing to avoid the blanket of death behind him.

He then heard his threat alarm blare and dove sharply, avoiding a missile coming from his left.

Blaze spared a glance: it was the X-02 Wyvern with the Heartbreak emblem.

…

Mobius One's dodge took him close to the ground, where his VTOL engines kicked up a sand cloud behind him as he regained altitude, jinking all the while just in case someone decided to try and shoot him in the back.

His intuition proved to be correct, as his threat alarm immediately blared a warning from multiple missile locks.

Mobius One turned sharply to throw off the missiles, firing off a flare just in case.

He then inverted and used his VTOLs to push himself toward the ground.

A streak of bullets flew into the flight path he would've taken had he flown upward.

…

Kira stopped flying to hide behind a sand dune.

…

Mu relied on his Skygrasper's powerful thrusters and forcibly pushed himself above the Lesseps, outrunning the streams of fire chasing after him.

…

Tolle's flight was nowhere to be seen.

…

"That's one hell of a greeting." Cipher said, looking down from his vantage point high in the sky.

Cipher and Talisman were left alone after the ZAFT's initial attack, and were able to escape to get a better grasp of the situation.

"The Tiger's smart. Let's finish this as quickly as we can." Talisman said, focusing on the Wyvern chasing after Mobius One.

"Yeah; let's do this."

Cipher and Talisman inverted and dove into the ensuing battle.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

For some reason this chapter felt very wrong to write.

Might just be a quality thing.


	9. Stage 8 - The Den

Cipher and Talisman dove in in search for the X-02 Wyverns ZAFT had fielded among their withering anti-air fire.

"I have to admit…" Talisman said as he wove through streams of bullets. "ZAFT really values their anti-air when it matters."

"I think it's just the Tiger." Cipher pulled up to avoid a shot from a rather gutsy man on the ground with a rocket launcher. "The prison ship didn't seem to care about anti air all that much."

"Yeah, I guess. 3 o'clock, Cipher." Talisman turned sharply.

"I see it." Cipher looked down at the BaCue that had its attention focused elsewhere.

"Cipher, your six." Cipher suddenly heard Neil's voice on the line.

"Got it." Cipher dove down into the BaCue, peppering it with his Vulcans, and then climbed high into a steep climb.

"I miss LAGMs." He said sadly as the missiles behind him were systematically shot down by Talisman.

"Cipher, two heat sigs on your five, one of them's Blaze, the other is probably a Wyvern." He heard.

"Ok. Thanks, Neil." Cipher headed towards the head signature that his systems didn't see.

"Sky Eye." He heard Neil's terse reply.

…

"Dammit, get off my back…!" Blaze snarled.

Blaze had evaded the Lessep's barrage of anti-aircraft and found the Wyvern with the heartbreak emblem on his tail almost instantly.

The two engaged in a short but fierce battle for position, with both planes alternatively swapping positions and taking wild shots at each other with their nose-mounted machine guns.

To make matters worse, at some point (he wasn't sure when) the Wyvern with the yellow wingtips had appeared on his tail. The combined forces of the two Wyverns forced Blaze to take some very harsh evasive maneuvers, practically steering him away from the fight entirely.

Mobius One was close on the tail of the Yellow Wyvern, but the sharp maneuvers its pilot was exhibiting in order to keep up with Blaze was making it difficult for him land anything other than the sporadic Vulcan hit.

"Guys, I need some serious help over here." Blaze said, taking another turn sharp enough to nearly hurt.

"We're on it, just keep on your toes." He heard Talisman say.

…

The pilot of the Yellow Wyvern smiled slightly.

"Sorry, kid, but this is business." The pilot of the Wyvern with the heartbreak emblem said with a small sigh. "I suggest you punch out soon or your body won't be able to take it."

...

Blaze pulled up high to avoid another streak of bullets.

A shot from a beam rifle streaked in front of him.

Blaze pulled harder and the beam fizzled uselessly high into the sky.

"What the hell…Sky Eye, what's going on?!" Blaze demanded.

"Four new contacts approaching from your two o'clock, three GINNs and one unknown. Watch yourselves up there." Sky Eye cursed his lack of proper equipment.

"Wonderful, just wonderful." Blaze rolled and braked, forcing the Wyverns to break off to avoid a collision. "Any other good news?!" He accelerated to follow the Wyvern closest to him.

"Yeah, stay still for a second." Mu said over the radio, his Skygrasper high in the air.

"Like I have the time for that!" Blaze gritted his teeth, focusing keeping the Wyvern with the yellow wingtips in his field of vision.

…

"Looks like those two fighters are giving the demons a hell of a fight." Dearka said with a small laugh. "Should we go help out, Yzak?"

"Of course."Yzak scowled. "Shoot them from the skies!"

"Roger that." Dearka grinned, watching his targeting radar as his unit landed on top of a Sand Dune and braced. "I'll just wait for the right moment, then."

_Now, where's that Strike? _Yzak thought to himself, scanning the sand dunes for a sign of the Gundam.

…

"Yzak! Move!"

Yzak did as he was told, exaggeratedly dodging a beam rifle shot seemingly from nowhere.

"What the hell?" He focused on the sand storm that was being kicked up from the ground, watching for a stream of green…

And then neatly dodged the second shot from a little ways left of where he was staring.

"Found you!" Yzak roared and kicked his engines into full power, launching his GINN to the ground like a comet.

…

_Damn. _Kira thought, and kicked his engines up as well, before doing what can only be called a twirl with his Strike.

…

The sandstorm Yzak was looking at suddenly exploded.

Yzak, obeying his sense of caution this time, decelerated and turned away to avoid being caught inside the massive sand cloud.

A beam shot from inside the cloud clipped his left wing engine, and his GINN spun out of control and collapsed on the ground.

…

"Great shot, Strike." Kira heard Sky Eye's voice over the warnings in his cockpit; the Strike did not like being in the desert very much. Kira then accelerated out of the dust cloud towards his shot.

…

"Yzak!" Dearka looked down at his friend's GINN.

"I'm fine." Yzak spat out. "I bit my tongue though."

Dearka sighed. "Sheesh. Watch yourself down there!"

"Nevermind that. Is he behind me?" Yzak asked, his mind quickly crunching some numbers.

"Yeah, he just came out of the cloud. Do you want me to"

"No, stay focused on the demons; I just need to tie him up." Yzak took a deep breath.

…

The Strike approached the downed GINN and watched it for a few seconds.

_He's probably down; I need to focus on taking out the Lesseps. _Kira thought, and turned to look at the giant land ship.

Instantly, the GINN kicked up a cloud of dust with its engines.

Kira snapped back to look at the GINN and sees nothing but dust.

_Damn! _Kira backpedaled to get out of the dust cloud.

…

The instant the Strike left the dust cloud, the GINN came charging in to his right.

The GINN's sword met the Strike's shield with a resounding clash.

_I should've gone to his left. _Yzak thought idly before using the imbalance in his propulsion to spin his unit wildly.

The GINN's sword, as a result, was repeatedly slammed into the shield until the shield bent.

The Strike moved its arm.

Yzak's GINN used its main engine to jump into the air, and brought down its sword with an awesome force on the Strike's head, forcing it to stagger forwards.

The Strike, in response, accelerated forward at maximum speed and slammed into the GINN with its head, causing the iconic V-shaped headpiece to stab into the GINN's armor and then snap off from the force of the impact.

With the GINN recoiling, Kira drew a beam saber and slashed upwards, destroying the GINN's sword. He then twisted and slashed sideways at the GINN.

The GINN jumped back and avoided the slash, before jumping forward with a kick, sending the Strike sliding backwards.

Kira threw away the shield and drew his other beam saber.

Yzak scowled. "I could use a hand here." He said to the rest of the GINNs.

In response, a GINN dropped a sword to Yzak, who plucked it from its resting position of a few feet into the sand dune.

"Thanks, Shiho." Yzak said with an audible grin, and pointed the sword point at the Strike.

...

The rebel forces with their jeeps were dying in all kinds of ways to the BaCues, mostly via being shot at by explosives.

…

Sky Eye had his hands full trying to coordinate the most ramshackle attack on a ship in his living memory.

"Rebel unit two three five, enemy approaching on your two o'clock, advise immediate counter-maneuver. Rebel unit two five eight, BaCue in front of you: stay alert."

"Even if you don't tell us" The man's voice on the radio was punctuated by the sound of RPGs and machineguns "we know!"

He then saw another blip disappear. "Unit two one nine is non-responsive. All remaining units stay alert for enemy attacks on your left flank."

He then opened a new line. "Sky Eye to Mobius One, can you assist the rebels on the ground?"

"That's a negative." Mobius One said gruffly. "I can't disengage from this position." He spared a glance towards Blaze, who's alternating between chasing a Wyvern and being chased by a Wyvern, occasionally both happening at once.

"I'm worried about Blaze. He's gotta be hitting his limit at this point." Mobius One muttered.

"Can you assist Blaze?" Sky Eye asked next.

"Also negative; the enemy pilots are skilled." Mobius One said. With the way the six pilots were flying, nobody has gotten enough time to lock with a missile.

"Oy! Aces! We're getting our asses shot up here! How 'bout a little help?" Mobius One heard over the general line. _Damn._

The Four Aces were carrying only air to air ammo, and were nowhere near the Lesseps in either altitude or distance.

Then again, most of the rebels weren't near it either; the BaCues completely stopped any semblance of advancement the rebels had.

In fact, the Lesseps was confident enough to stop firing its anti-air guns entirely.

"Shit! This is going to hell in a hand basket!" Another rebel yelled.

…

"Well now you know how we feel." Cipher muttered, twisting to try and get a clear shot on the Wyvern in front of him. "Blaze, take a hit for us?"

"Like hell I will." Blaze laughed, dodging in every possible direction to avoid streams of machine gun fire from the Wyvern behind him. "How's the kid doing?"

"He's alive, at least." Cipher spared a glance in the general direction of where he thought the Strike was.

…

Kira's cockpit blared another warning, this time about this right arm joint.

_This guy's gotten better. _Kira thought, swinging his beam sabers a little wildly to force the GINN away again.

_Damn. I can't get close. _Yzak mused, his confidence granting him a measure of calm.

Kira opened fire with his head Vulcan (the right one was damaged and wasn't working anymore) at Yzak, intent on forcing the white GINN to dodge to its right.

The GINN threw its sword at the Strike instead.

"Whoa!" Kira flinched when the sword flew inches away from the Strike's main camera.

He then saw the GINN charge forward at full power, and spun with his beam saber outstretched.

_Figures. _Yzak used his imbalance from losing a thruster to spin away from the Strike's saber, landing near his thrown sword and retrieving it.

He then felt the hairs on his neck stand up and hopped to his right, avoiding a shot from the Strike's beam rifle.

"Dearka! How's it looking up there?!" Yzak looked down at his panels: less than half energy left.

"I don't see how the hell I'm supposed to hit him." Dearka groaned, looking at his targeting computer go insane trying to predict Blaze's flight path.

Yzak turned and saw the Strike focus on the Blitz.

"I have him." Yzak heard one of his squadmates say.

The GINN in question pulled out its machine gun and bazooka, and fired haphazardly toward the Strike.

Kira jumped and flipped in midair, kicking up the sand before spinning to orient himself towards his new attacker.

"Shiho, you moron!" Yzak growled as he charged at the Strike.

The Strike threw one of its Armor Schneider knifes at Yzak's GINN.

Yzak, once more, used his imbalance in thrust to sidestep the knife without stopping his charge.

_Damn. _Kira was conflicted between continuing to engage the GINN that was shooting at him and turning to handle the tough, damaged white one.

"Kira!" He heard Mu shout.

Mu La Flaga's Skygrasper dashed into the area and fired its AGNI cannon between the Strike and Yzak's GINN, forcing Yzak to stop his charge.

"This is getting out of hand. Intercept that jet!" Yzak ordered.

Dearka, of course, ignored him because he has a job to do.

"Whoa!" Mu pulled up and rolled to dodge the sudden increase in anti-air fire from the GINNs. "Kid, you alright down there?!"

"Not for long." Kira looked down. He had about 10 percent of his energy left. _What do I do?_

…

"Blaze!"

"I'm working on it!" Blaze snarled into his radio, ignoring the low energy warning blaring in his cockpit.

"Shit. Talisman! Get on it!" Cipher yelled.

"Trying!" Talisman turned hard to keep up with the yellow winged Wyvern, but it braked suddenly and suddenly he found himself being chased instead.

"They must be running out of gas, too." Mobius One muttered.

"Doesn't look like it." Cipher gritted his teeth, enduring the g-force of his maneuver as he tried to get behind the Wyvern with the Heartbreak emblem.

"Blaze! Watch your altitude!" Talisman saw Blaze suddenly dive down.

"Like I have a choice." Blaze muttered, going down as low as possible before pulling up, kicking a cloud of dust behind him.

"That won't help you, kid." The pilot of the Heartbreak Wyvern said over the common frequency.

"Yeah, yeah. You still haven't caught me yet, Bartlett." Blaze said.

"That's Captain Bartlett to you, kid." Bartlett grinned. "Keep flying like that and you'll give Nagase a heart attack."

"She'll be just fine." Blaze spun and dodged another streak of bullets. "Keep shooting and she'll have your behind."

"It'll be just fine." Bartlett grinned despite himself. "You need a potty break, kid? Your flying is getting sloppy."

"I could use a nap." Blaze admitted, pulling level for a second.

…

Dearka's targeting computer suddenly registered a lock.

Dearka instinctively pulled the trigger even as his mind began to ask "how?"

…

"Blaze! Break!" Sky Eye saw one of the ZAFT blips suddenly shine.

Blaze's craft inverted and dodged downwards.

A green beam flew over his craft, cooking the VTOL engines.

Blaze levelled out his craft as it billowed out smoke.

…

_Shit._ Dearka thought as he fired a second shot a little lower than normal.

…

"Blaze! Are you ok?" Mobius One flew next to Blaze's craft to assess damage.

Captain Bartlett, in a show of comradery for his fellow Osean pilot, broke off the attack.

"Yeah. Shit." Blaze pulled hard on his stick and felt his craft fail to respond. "I've lost my main engines. I'm heading back before this gets any worse."

"You should just bail out." The Yellow Wyvern said coolly, flying in fast with Talisman hot on his tail, firing away with his machine guns to little effect.

"Oy." Captain Bartlett started to say.

"But nothing; this is a battlefield." Yellow 13 locked onto Blaze's staggering aircraft.

And fired a missile.

"You're an asshole, you know that?" Blaze sighed, and ejected from his aircraft.

Yellow 13's missile impacted the Spearhead, shredding its engines and sending the plane spiraling toward the ground billowing smoke.

…

Talisman felt the hair on his neck stand up, and debated on evading for a brief moment.

In that brief moment, the second beam from the Buster struck his fuselage.

…

"Razgriz four! Talisman!" Sky Eye could do nothing but watch as the Spearhead's signature vanished from his display.

…

"Talisman! Razgriz Four! Respond!" Mobius One yelled, watching Talisman's craft spiral into the ground.

"I'm fine!" Talisman's radio crackled with interference. "Bailing out!"

"This is a battlefield, Mobius One. Don't forget that." Yellow 13 said coldly, flying gracefully through the sky.

"Yeah." Mobius One agreed tonelessly.

Yellow 13 then felt bullets impact his fuselage. _What the… _he inverted to dodge the unknown attack…

…and then saw the Spearhead with the Ribbon emblem fly up at him.

"Mobius One, engage." Upon hearing those three words, Yellow 13 felt a shiver run through his spine.

Yellow 13 then inverted and dove, and the two fighters engaged high in the sky.

…

"Good shot, Dearka!" Yzak laughed in a momentary pause in his fight with the Strike.

"Woohoo! Yeah!" Dearka couldn't help but punch the air in his joy.

…

"Razgriz one down, Razgriz four down. All units, be careful." Kira heard Sky Eye say over the radio.

"What happened?!" He demanded, paying his own battle scant attention.

"Blaze has ejected, Talisman's status is unknown." He heard Sky Eye say, and then heard the impact of bullets on his armor.

His own energy tank then ran out.

"What the…" Yzak momentarily stopped as the Strike's color was replaced with a grey tint.

"His phase shift is down. Finish him off!" Dearka laughed, still running high on his adrenaline.

"Damn straight. All units! Converge and kill it!" Yzak roared.

…

"Mu. Give me the launcher pack."

"Uh…ok. Detaching." Mu La Flaga flew down despite himself and detached the Launcher pack over the Strike.

…

"Destroy it!" Yzak raised his machine gun along with his squad of three other GINNs, pouring fire on the Strike

The Strike jumped and spun while detaching its wings.

Two blurs shot out from its arms, and two of the GINNs fell as a pair of beam sabers embedded themselves into their cockpits.

"What the hell?!" Yzak gasped as the Strike grabbed the AGNI launcher.

…

"Bartfield to all BaCues! The rebel elements have broken! Converge and attack the EFA forces!"

Andrew Bartfield watched the battle from the Lesseps, having done his share of head shaking from the rebel's determination in the face of overwhelming odds and having done next to no damage against the BaCues despite losing what is nearly all of their forces.

"Roger, captain!" The BaCue squad captain grinned. "The demons aren't anything after all…Cruset must be losing his touch."

Six BaCues (some with scratched paintjobs) rolled towards the Strike.

…

The Strike loaded the Launcher pack, refilling its battery.

"To all ZAFT units." Kira said with his voice devoid of emotion. "If you do not wish to die, eject now."

"What the hell is he on?" Dearka thought.

"I got him." Yzak's remaining alive squadmate insisted with its bazooka pointed at the face of the Strike.

"Enough! Shiho, pull back!" Yzak snarled. The Strike was giving him a very, very bad feeling.

"Strike...destroying targets." Kira's pupils seemed to have disappeared, and his purple eyes fixated on the closed target: Yzak's GINN.

"Yzak! Watch yourself!" Dearka warned, also getting that feeling that this Strike was suddenly very, very bad news.

Yzak spun with his imbalanced thrust and delivered an overhead sword slash toward the Strike.

The Strike responded by dodging the blade by turning a quick full circle, and upon turning around to face the GINN again he instantly stabbed the GINN's head with one of its knives.

Yzak jumped back, trying to get his bearing as his main camera crackled with static.

He then heard a loud **clang **as the Strike threw its knife into his GINN's sword arm.

Yzak looked up, and the Strike was suddenly in front of him.

He heard a loud, grating noise, and then the Strike crouched down with its newly recovered dagger in hand. The Strike then struck upwards.

Kira's swing caught the GINN's sword arm at the wrist and he took the sword for himself, discarding the GINN's severed hand.

"Yzak!" Dearka fired at the Strike, causing it to stop for a second as Yzak pulled away.

"Thanks. Shit, what the hell is going on?!" Yzak felt cold sweat run down his back.

"Yzak team, this is Waltfield; pull back to the ship." He heard over the radio.

"Yzak team, roger." Yzak looked at the Strike with a scowl.

…

"I got your long range death right here, buddy." Dearka snarled, firing another shot from his long range beam rifle.

And immediately heard his damage alarm blare.

"When did he…?" Dearka looked at the Strike with its AGNI launcher in its right hand.

"Out of my way." Kira murmured.

"Dearka! We're getting out of here!" Yzak looked at the Buster with its left arm and half of its beam rifle missing.

"I got ya." Dearka took a calming breath; it didn't help him much. "Is that for real?" He wondered as he ran from the battlefield.

"Captain Waltfield, this guy's acting weird. Watch yourselves." Yzak warned.

"Understood, kid." The BaCue captain drawled.

Yzak sighed despite himself.

…

The BaCue squad met the Strike as it walked toward the Lesseps.

"I got him." The BaCue captain said confidently, rolling forward at maximum speed with its mouth-mounted beam blades active.

The Strike didn't bother to maneuver, and instead pointed the AGNI launcher at the BaCue and blasted it into tiny bits.

The rest of the BaCues fired volleys of missiles at the Strike.

The Strike charged forward at maximum power, using its head-mounted Vulcan to remove the missiles in its path with almost surgical precision while counterfiring with his shoulder-mounted gatling gun, shredding two more BaCues in his charge.

"Damn, retreat! Retreat!" one of the BaCue's riders said, turning his unit around and trying to run away.

"Eject." Kira said coldly over the common frequency, before engulfing the three remaining BaCues with a sweeping shot from his AGNI launcher.

…

"All…all BaCues destroyed." An operator on the Lesseps said shakily. _That wasn't even a minute!_

The bridge on the Lesseps was silent save for the beeping of the computers and equipment, as all the personnel watched the Strike stride from the burning wreckage of BaCues from one of the BaCue's cameras before it fizzled out and died.

Because everyone was so focused, the threat alarm was loud enough for the entire ship to hear (it felt like).

"What's going on?" Waltfield demanded.

"New targets, from up high! Three fighters!"

…

Tolle's flight of bombers dove at the Lesseps, having shielded themselves from the Lessep's sensors by hovering low against the sand dunes.

"They're gonna open fire on us soon. As soon as you have a clear firing solution, drop everything you have!" Tolle ordered.

"Got it!" His wingmen acknowledge shakily.

_C'mon, c'mon…_

The sky over the Lesseps began to fill with anti-air fire.

"Damn." Tolle muttered as he rolled to dodge the streams of fire.

"I-I'm hit! Disengaging!" His wingmen shouted in panic, breaking off his attack run the instant his plane was caught by anti-air fire by flying high, straight, and slow. It was shredded by anti-air fire moments later.

"Stay with me, three!" Tolle said, just in case his last wingman got spooked.

Tolle's flying was remarkable enough that the nameless wingman was able to survive by flying close to him, regardless of how much terror was in the poor guy's head.

…

"They're not stopping!" A Lesseps operator shouted in panic.

"Continue fire! Don't panic!" Bartfield barked.

…

_C'mon…c'mon…! _Tolle's eyes darted down to his rangefinder. He regretted suggesting to the technicians that they should give him nothing but radar-guided munitions; the Spearhead's odd computers ensured that while the munitions had no lock they would refuse to fire.

He made a mental note to ask Kira to help rewrite it if he…no, _when _he got out of this fight alive.

_Distance…2000…1500…_

Tolle pulled up slightly and twisted into a sharp dive.

Moments later, his radar beeped a lock.

"Bombs away! Bombs away!" He shouted, releasing his payload onto the Lesseps.

"Fire, fire, fire!" His wingman pulled up along with Tolle, accelerating away from the land ship at maximum possible speed.

"This is Tolle, bombing run on enemy land ship a success!" Tolle said happily, once he was out of the anti-air gun range of the Lesseps.

"Sky Eye, roger." Tolle noted that Sky Eye sounded a little stressed. "Standby for your next orders."

"What, we don't get to reload?"

"Negative. Stay in the air."

"Fine." Tolle huffed.

…

…

Yellow 13 was having the time of his life.

While running away from a grim reaper, Yellow 13 couldn't help but be elated at the prospect of sharing the sky with someone so skilled.

Even as his plane's computer showed multiple hits to the fuselage, and countless other injuries that threatened to drop the plane at any second.

"Oy, you're at your limit, two." He heard Captain Bartlett say over the radio.

"I am aware." Yellow 13 said quite peacefully.

…

"Mobius One, you're almost out of gas." Cipher warned.

Mobius One didn't reply, but continued to spew machine gun ammo into the Yellow 13's Wyvern.

"Oy. Ribbon. They're alive, chill." Cipher sighed.

…

"Damn." Yellow 13 felt his craft shudder. "I guess he's not gonna let me go with just a warning."

"Yellow 13, bail out." Captain Bartlett said. "This isn't going well for us."

"Yeah. Punching out." Yellow 13 ejected from his Wyvern, watching it turn into a ball of flames from Mobius One's continued assault. _This is war, after all._ He thought idly.

"Shit, now what?" Bartlett muttered to himself.

…

"Mobius One, RTB immediately, that's an order." Sky Eye said. "The Lesseps has been crippled, mission objectives have been accomplished."

Mobius One took some deep, heavy breaths. "Understood. Mobius One, returning to base."

"Really? The Lesseps is down? Who got the kill?" Cipher flew into formation behind Mobius One.

"Tolle's flight gets the honors." Sky Eye sighed.

…

"The Lesseps is down?"Yzak stared at the smoking ship.

"It takes a lot more than that to sink that ship." Dearka said with a laugh, despite his unit's injuries. "Waltfield is probably playing dead."

"I sure as hell hope so." Yzak looked around at the smoldering field around the ship. "Otherwise we're gonna fry out here."

"What happened to the Strike?" Dearka asked, scanning his radar.

"Don't know. I hope he burns to death." Yzak mutters.

…

"Tolle flight, I'm sending you coordinates, patrol the area as outlined." Sky Eye said as he sent some numbers to Tolle's flight computer.

"Eh? Why do I have to do this now of all times?" Tolle whined.

"The Strike's signal disappeared in this region. I want you to check it out."

"On it." Tolle's playful whining vanished instantly. "Three, come with me."

"Roger that, boss." Tolle did just dive bomb a warship and disable it by himself, after all.

…

"Neil." Sky Eye turned to look at Cagalli.

"What is it?" Neil said tersely.

Cagalli frowned slightly. "Is the battle over now?" She gestured to what was left of the rebel forces with a tilt of her head.

Neil caught her meaning: the rebel forces were simply too worn down at this point to continue. "I think so. We're still trying to ascertain the situation, but as far as we know all sides are pulling back for the moment."

Cagalli let out the breath she was holding. The base had raised a cheer when it became known that the Lesseps was damaged, satisfying their main objective, but the more pragmatic members of the group made it clear that taking out a single ship won't fulfill their end goal of driving ZAFT out of their territory.

Of course, losing what is essentially all of their combat power didn't help matters.

Just then, Neil's communication system beeped.

"Sky Eye here." He said instinctively.

"Uh…This is the Archangel, is…is the Razgriz team available?" He heard a young girl's voice over the intercom.

"This is ISAF AWACS unit, callsign Sky Eye. Razgriz is currently en route back to base; what do you wish to convey?"

"Uh. Tell them that the Archangel is coming to pick them up; we got some bad news." _What could it be?_

"Roger."

…

"Sky Eye to all friendly elements: allied asset 'Archangel' is en route to the area." Cipher heard over the radio. "They have some new information. Patching their comms unit through."

"Uh…" He heard Miriallia sound utterly confused about what's going on. "The EFA has sent new information: they're going to stage an attack to recapture the northern coasts of Africa in two weeks' time."

"Two we- what the hell are they waiting that long for?!" Cipher demanded.

"We're…we're not entirely sure either." Cipher could hear Miriallia's shrug. "But either way they're expecting all units within the theatre of operations to participate in the battle."

"Not happening." Mobius One said coldly.

"I know, right?" Miriallia laughed. "So our goal is to pick you guys up and get the hell out of here as soon as possible; stay put and stay safe!"

Mobius One heard Natarle say something, probably to the effect of "don't talk like that when you're on duty". He smiled slightly.

"So that's how it is on our end; how's the support effort going?" Miriallia asked.

Tolle chose this moment to report in. "Tolle here! I see the Strike! It's Phase Shift is down and it isn't moving!"

"Sky Eye, roger. Send us your coordinates." Neil then turned to Cagalli. "Do you have any rescue assets available?"

Cagalli shook her head.

"Mu La Flaga here." Mu's Skygrasper flew low, circling around a spot in the desert. "I have Razgriz One's beacon; should I send you the coordinates?"

"Do it." Neil commanded.

"Wait! What happened?!" Murrue demanded, hijacking Miriallia's line.

"We sustained losses during the battle." Sky Eye said tersely. "I suggest you have medical facilities prepped and ready to go the moment you arrive."

There was a moment of silence. "Right. Got it." Murrue said distractedly.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

This continues to feel a little weird.

But we're plowing along~


	10. Stage 9 - Onwards to Orb

The beauty of the Spearhead is its simplicity in refueling.

Unlike the Moebius, the Spearhead's main engines are connected to battery tanks designed to be removed in their entirety and replaced with a fresh one at the quickest possible speed, giving it an unparalleled advantage when a craft needs to be deployed quickly and repeatedly.

Thus, Ribbon and Cipher redeployed a mere hour after returning back to the rebel base.

Disregarding the technological advantage of removable batteries, the fact remained that the rebel forces were simply too unskilled at actually servicing a military aircraft beyond merely re-arming it. Besides, it's not like a Spearhead should constantly replace its batteries; it weathers the joints (according to the rebel mechanic).

"Alright, I'm in the air; Sky Eye, give me their coordinates." Cipher said, looking at his display.

"Sky Eye copies, sending data." Cipher's screen beeped and his radar updated with three new positions.

"Ribbon, who are you going after?" Cipher looked over at Mobius One's aircraft.

"I'll get Blaze."

"Roger that, I'll go after Talisman then." Cipher accelerated and headed toward Talisman's distress signal.

"What about Kira?" Tolle demanded.

"We need to recover the Strike itself; if you got something good let me know." Cipher said tersely.

…

The two Aces of Strangereal were recovered without too much incident (Talisman sprained his ankle on a rather poor landing, but it wasn't anything serious) and ferried back to the rebel base as they waited for the Archangel.

Ribbon and Cipher then departed on their second mission: cutting Kira out of the Strike.

…

"I see the Strike." Ribbon said after a few minute of flight.

"Copy that. Be advised: ZAFT elements are operating in the combat area, watch yourselves up there." Sky Eye reported.

"Don't worry about a thing." Tolle said confidently: he and his wingman were flying cover.

"Alright…touching down." Mobius One and Cipher landed near the Strike quickly (and showering it with a spray of sand).

"Galm One to Strike, do you copy?" Cipher listened for a radio response. "Cipher to Kira, you ok in there, kid?"

Nothing.

"Alright, let's go." Ribbon motioned to the technician sitting in his Spearhead's copilot seat.

…

…

What followed next is a few minutes of silent anticipation as the technician cut through the Strike's cockpit hatch little by little while everyone else listened intently for the sound of anything belonging to ZAFT flying over the area.

The technician cut through a small area in the Strike's armor, exposing some wires.

"Seriously?" The technician muttered with a grin, and quickly moved some of the wires.

A loud thud resounded through the Strike's cockpit, and the Technician forced it open with relative ease.

"I can't believe they use the same wire patterns as ZAFT. Lazy asses." He said with a cocky grin.

Inside the cockpit, Kira Yamato was slumped against the chair, held up by the safety harness and not moving.

Ribbon moved in quickly and removed Kira's helmet.

"He's still breathing." Ribbon said after testing for Kira's vital signs. "A little on the weak side, but he's still alive. Let's get him out of here. Cipher, give us a hand."

"On it." Cipher took his Spearhead into the air and hovered next to the Strike, his craft's nose almost touching the Gundam's mangled cockpit hatch.

"Easy…easy…" Ribbon and the Technician eased Kira into the Spearhead's copilot seat, and strapped him in the best they could. "Ok, you're clear."

"Roger." Cipher pulled away and lifted off. "Galm One to Sky Eye, we've recovered Strike's pilot, scramble medical assets."

"We don't have any medical assets." Sky Eye sighed. What few medical staff the rebels had were overwhelmed with the wounds of the remains of the rebel forces.

"Yeah, I forgot about that." Cipher sighed as his radar beeped. "Hawk flight, we have contacts, prepare to intercept."

"Eh? Uh, right!" Tolle and his wingmen were assimilated into Mu's flight (for procedure purposes), and Mu himself was grounded due to the Skygrasper not having the parts available for maintenance, since the Skygrasper was damaged when it forcibly ejected the Launcher Pack for the Strike. The mechanics who built the aircraft had not tested for a situation like that and the force inflicted on the Skygrasper's frame (while it was flying very fast and not hovering like it should have been) shut down its VTOL engines.

And the rebel base wasn't built with a traditional runway.

"Once we're out of the area, just run to the base; it's not like its hidden anymore at this point." Ribbon said, taking off with a steep climb.

"What if they destroy the Strike?" Tolle asked, watching the radar blip come closer and closer.

"Then we're screwed." Cipher laughed.

Tolle sighed.

…

"This is Heartbreak one hailing EFA assets." Mobius One heard over the radio.

_Is he that other Wyvern pilot? _Mobius One wondered. "This is the EFA fighter call sign Razgriz three. State your intentions, ZAFT pilot."

He heard a laugh. "Razgriz, huh? I'm a mercenary, not ZAFT. Let's try again. This is Heartbreak one affiliated with the Osean air force, 108th Tactical fighter squadron 'Wardog', a pleasure, I'm sure."

_So he's just like us. _Mobius One looked at the radar spot approaching him quickly. "This is Mobius One, affiliated with the ISAF 118th Tactical Fighter Wing."

"The famed reaper! I'm honored." Ribbon saw the Wyvern approach him, then slow down to fly side by side. "Well, then this'll go a little faster. I'm requesting neutrality in return for letting me pick up my downed wingman."

"As long as ZAFT doesn't try anything I think the EFA will stay out of a fight, for the time being." Ribbon mused.

Heartbreak one laughed. "Of course. I'm Bartlett. Do you have a name, reaper?"

"Ribbon."

Another chuckle. "Thought so. Well then, mister Ribbon, pleasure doing business with you." The Wyvern banked and pulled away.

The Technician let out a whimper along with his held breath.

…

Soon enough, the two Aces landed and Kira was laid on a bed in the infirmary.

"What a goddamned disaster." Cipher groaned.

Ribbon could only sigh as he looked at the rows of corpses being prepped for burial. A small part of him reminded him that a lot of bodies were still on the sand dunes, unable to be picked up because they were buried by the battle that killed them.

"I mean…" Cipher looked grim. "I thought the Excalibur was bad, but this is insane."

"I guess this means the rebellion is all but finished." Ribbon muttered.

"It isn't finished. It's just beginning." One of the rebel captains said with a bitter smile. "We've attracted the attention of the EFA. We'll use them to liberate Africa, you'll see."

He then clapped Cipher on the shoulder. "Thanks for your help, Aces. If it weren't for you…well, we would've lost all these people without anything to show for it."

Cipher felt the man squeeze. "I wish we could've done more."

The man nodded. "Yeah. We wish we could've done more, too."

…

…

[Two days later]

…

…

Kira woke with a start.

"Where-ow!" He felt his entire body burn.

"Whoa, easy there." Blaze said from the bed next to his. "You passed out in the Strike."

"I…what? When did that happen?" Kira asked, lying back down.

"Who knows?" Blaze sighed. "We were hoping you could tell us that, actually."

"I…I remember hearing that…" Kira then almost shot up again, but his body forced him back down. "Nevermind me, what about you and Talisman?!"

"Oh, we're fine, just fine." Blaze stretched. "Cipher restricted us to bed rest for a while until we can get a proper evaluation. I'm really bored, by the way." Blaze laughed. "We punched out when our aircraft were hit, so we're fine. Don't worry." Blaze said upon seeing the look on Kira's face.

Kira sighed in response. "If you say so." He stared at the ceiling. "I remember hearing the two of you go down and then…my mind just felt…clear, and then…" Kira shuddered.

"And then you killed people. I saw your handiwork." Blaze said lightly.

"How could I have done that…what did I do?" Kira said softly, despair creeping into his voice.

"Kid." Blaze said firmly. "That power is yours, and you know what I've told you about power."

Kira took a deep breath. "I need to train it to control it, so I don't kill people like this again."

"Not to the point where you pass out from the strain, you idiot." Cipher said, walking in and gently tapping Kira on the head. "When was the last time you got a good night's sleep? Sheesh."

That was a rhetorical question: Kira slept very poorly lately due to how hard he was pushing himself. And even a coordinator with superior physical capabilities had a limit.

"I'll take better care of myself in the future, I promise." Kira said a little sulkily.

"Good. At least you'll be able to control yourself then." Cipher said seriously.

…

…

[Two days later]

…

…

For the past four days Sky Eye had watched over the Strike's position, looking for any possible ZAFT signatures near the nonresponsive Gundam.

Apart from one copter that showed up to pick up the ZAFT rescue signature on the first day there wasn't any activity.

…

"Yo." Neil knocked on the wall near the gate of the dock, getting the attention of Cipher and Ribbon. "Your ship is gonna be here in fifteen minutes."

"Oh, good." Ribbon stood up. "I was getting antsy."

…

The Archangel pulled into the dock with surprising ease, opening up its hangar doors in the process.

"Hey guys!" Murdoch said with a huge grin; all of his animosity towards the Gründer mechanics seemed to have fallen by the wayside in favor of having a shiny new ship. "We're here! Did you miss us?!"

Cipher could only grin in response.

"We missed having a professional to work on our shit." Ribbon grinned.

Murdoch's grin faded a little. "Yeah? We don't have replacement parts for the Super Spearheads though…hmm." The Gründer mechanics didn't give the Archangel any spare parts for the Super Spearheads.

He then shrugged. "Nothing a little retrofitting can't fix, though…well, for the time being, let's just get the units loaded up." Murdoch looked around. "Where's the Strike?"

"Uh…" Cipher and Blaze shared a sideways glance.

…

"Hmm…" Murdoch scratched his stubble of a beard. "We should be able to recover it easily enough with the Duel and flying the ship near the Strike…did something happen to Kira? It sounded serious."

Tolle, by virtue of being tasked to escort the Archangel into dock, was able to relay what the battle was like for the crew of the ship, including the final results of losing two Razgriz pilots, and Kira.

And thus Tolle sent gave Miriallia a panic attack when she learned that Kira was apparently nonresponsive after the battle. As far as the rest of the ship was concerned, Kira Yamato was blasted into a million little pieces.

"He's suffering from something; I don't think it's serious, but I say he doesn't deploy unless it's serious." Cipher said matter-of-factly.

"Isn't that a shame…does this qualify as a serious situation?"

…

"This is an extremely serious situation!" Natarle practically yelled, before turning on Murrue and lecturing the lady with her brand of polite seriousness.

Murrue listened to the rant about "equipment fidelity" and "chain of command" and "rebellion inadequacy" for all of two minutes. "Cipher, if you feel that Kira can deploy to retrieve the Strike, please let him do so." Murrue said when Natarle paused to take a breath.

"Understood." Cipher saluted quickly and left the bridge as Natarle went into a new tirade.

A small part of Murrue's mind informed her that the bored, noncommittal look on her face was probably only egging Natarle on.

…

…

[Four hours later]

…

…

At the crack of dawn, the Archangel flew to the position where the Strike was.

The Archangel, incidentally, had several new passengers and an additional crewmember on board.

"Duel, you're cleared to proceed with the mission. How are you feeling, Yamato?" Sky Eye asked from his seat as a tactical officer (of sorts).

"Please just call me Kira. I feel great, sir." Kira said with a smile.

"Take better care of yourself and you'll fly better." Cipher laughed from his spot next to the bridge's walls.

"Ok…Duel, cleared for takeoff." Upon Sky Eye's words, the Duel walked slowly out of the hangar and landed gently on the sand dunes.

"Wow. Do we have a shovel?" Kira looked at the Strike covered in sand.

"We have something even better." Murdoch pointed to a spare VTOL engine with his thumb.

…

One sand-clearing via cyclone later and the Strike was loaded onto a pair of harnesses strapped to a pair of Spearheads. Kira idly reminded himself to get the cockpit block properly cleaned later.

With the help of the two Spearheads and the Duel, the Strike was lifted into the catapult, where it was latched onto said Catapult and rolled back into a dock.

All in all, an operation that took about an hour.

…

Sky Eye scowled at the new radar signature that looked very familiar.

"Mobius One."

Mobius One instinctively looked down at his radar. "I see him." He then switched to a different frequency. "Mobius One to Heartbreak One, state your intentions."

"Good to see you again, Reaper. We could use a new contract after ZAFT just paid us." Bartlett laughed.

"And here I thought ZAFT would pay well." Ribbon's eyebrows shot up.

"Waltfield pays well. ZAFT…not so much." The Wyvern rolled lazily in the sky. "And since you guys killed Waltfield's ship he's being assigned somewhere else."

_He survived? _Ribbon thought.

"Yeah, he survived; the Lesseps is a tough ship." Bartfield said, reading Ribbon's mind.

"Huh, good for him." Ribbon said lightly.

"A man like that shouldn't die for something like this." Bartlet agreed. "So what do you say?"

"Might I remind you, Mr. Mercenary." Natarle's voice cut across the conversation. "That he is not the ranking officer on this ship, and the prerogative to hire mercenaries falls upon this ship's captain."

"Oh really? You sound like a bag full of fun." Bartlett voice suggested that he considered Natarle to be anything but fun. "So who's the captain of the ship?"

Natarle scowled at Bartlett's immediate dismissal of her as the ship captain.

"That would be me, Heartbreak One." Murrue said.

"Please, Bartlett is fine." Captain Bartlett, Heartbreak One laughed. "You sound friendly, captain; so how about it?"

"Uh…"

…

The X-02 Wyvern was guided to one of the Archangel's hangars, where it touched down and was brought to one of the anchors meant for the Spearheads.

"So…did she end up hiring them?" Cipher asked Ribbon once he left his Spearhead.

"Who knows?" Ribbon shrugged. The Wyvern was told to land due to it nearly running out of fuel.

"Hey! Kid!" Kira and Blaze both looked around for the source of the voice.

Captain Bartlett came out of the Wyvern and removed his helmet to show the huge grin on his face.

Blaze strided towards his ex-captain with an equally large grin on his face.

"Do they know each other?" Kira asked the closest person available.

"Probably." Cipher shrugged.

…

Ribbon saw the second man from the Wyvern jump down from the copilot seat and approach him.

"I take it you're the pilot of that aircraft." The man said with a pleasant smile.

"That I am…and you must be Yellow 13?" Mobius One said, offering a hand.

"The very same; it's an honor to meet a fellow pilot from Strangereal, even if we are on opposing sides." Yellow 13 shook the offered hand.

_Even if…? _"I take it you know who I am?" Ribbon asked.

"I do not." Yellow 13 shook his head. "But Captain Bartlett filled me in on the details." Yellow 13 then laughed. "I'm looking at my future killer from a different universe; not a lot of people get to see this kind of thing."

Mobius One grimaced. "I suppose this whole timeline business is confusing at best; to the best of my memory you are still the superior pilot."

"And I intend to keep it that way." Yellow 13 smirked.

Ribbon shook his head. "If only Captain Murrue will let you."

Yellow 13 blinked. "Oh yeah, good point; well, until she decides, care to go for a drink?"

"They don't serve alcohol on the ship." Ribbon shrugged.

"That's fine by me."

…

"Captain, I advise against hiring mercenaries who lose the trust of their employers." Natarle repeated.

Murrue sighed. "Natarle, we're looking at a pair of people that ZAFT wanted to let go; do you think it might be because they're anti-ZAFT?"

"Uh, no, ma'am, but still…" Natarle frowned. "I don't believe they were released due to their political affiliations, so…"

Murrue yawned; the constant sound of repairs when the ship was docked meant she didn't rest all that well. "I know, I know. I'll reserve my judgment for a little while longer, is that ok with you?"

Natarle shook her head in despair.

…

[In the ship medical bay]

…

"Looks like you're stuck here for a while longer, huh." Cipher said.

"Yeah." Talisman sighed.

Due to Talisman's Spearhead being totaled before he ejected, Talisman was recommended (forced) to rest until the ship doctor cleared him for further missions.

"Look on the bright side: we have two more pilots to take your place." Cipher grinned.

Talisman rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah…did Murrue actually hire them?"

"She's undecided right now." Cipher leans against a wall. "But I think she wants to hire them, under the table if necessary."

"Under the table?" Talisman frowns. "What is she afraid of all of a sudden?"

"Hiring ex-ZAFT mercenary not even days after they were discharged is pretty suspicious." Cipher said, and then saw Talisman stare at him. "What?"

"Nevermind. Are you going to put a good word for them?"

"I don't know them." Cipher shrugged. "So I'm getting you to do it for me."

Talisman shook his head. "How very noble of you."

…

[Next day]

…

While the Wyverns weren't formally hired, the pilots (well, pilot and spare) were allowed to room on the ship for the night provided that no support beyond fuel was given, per the international treaties that the EFA paid lip service to. Thanks to these rules, the now six Strangereal aces were able to gather and trade information (largely from Talisman, since he was the latest in the timeline) and learn more about themselves from each other.

Captain Bartlett was taken from the tail end of the Circum-Pacific war, when the Razgriz was about to make their final sortie against the Grey Men. At no point did he remember Blaze suddenly disappearing, as all four aces rescued him a few days prior.

"So we're all from totally different timelines then, this is convenient." Talisman had said.

Yellow Thirteen, on the other hand, was just given leadership of the Yellow Squadron before he was transported, and before the war against ISAF had even started. Thus, he had no memories of Mobius One, and the others (namely Blaze) felt that it was in their best interest to have an immediate showdown between him and the Ribbon Reaper.

Things escalated and they almost went to the simulators before Mu told them off for disobeying Cipher's orders for rest.

"Oy, La Flaga." Bartlett, like Cipher, was fairly attentive to the news, and knew of Mu La Flaga's fame as an Ace. "Let us Oseans have our fun, yeah?"

Oops.

"Oseans?" Mu's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Where's that?"

"Strangereal. Never heard of it?"

Natarle had the fortune to walk in on that sentence.

…

Which is why the five pilots (Talisman exempt) are now in the captain's quarters.

Five pilots plus Mu and Kira (who tagged along on account of the rather somber mood).

"Now, then, gentlemen." Natarle said in a falsely pleasant tone. "Care to explain what 'Strangereal' is?"

"It's where we came from. Did kid not tell you that?" Bartlett grunted. "Man, Blaze. What were you doing?"

"We got dropped into an EFA facility and they don't take kindly to strangers." Blaze shrugged, having agreed to himself that he was going to just go with it.

"So…" Murrue baited.

"So, we're all pilots from an alternate dimension, even from alternate timelines." Yellow 13 said, complete with a salute.

"Oh, that explains why you all have different call signs." Mu said with a very visible grin.

"Why are you so happy about this!?" Natarle demanded.

"Because it means I'm still the real Ace!" Mu's grin refused to fade.

Murrue rolled his eyes. "Then, can you introduce yourselves to us again?"

"Our names are still a bit of a secret, you understand." Ribbon denied respectfully.

Natarle opened her mouth.

"Drop it, lady." Bartlett warned.

"Yes, sir." Natarle said almost instinctively.

"Look, we're still the same pilots as we are before." Cipher said, glancing at Kira to gauge his reaction. "So this information really changes nothing."

"Yeah, it's not like you guys are interesting aliens." Mu deadpanned.

"I think we should've made some eyes on stalks." Blaze smiled. "Or do you guys not have those kinds of movies?"

"Oh, we have plenty." Mu laughed, while Natarle seemed to finally come around to the realization that she called a mercenary 'sir'.

"Well then." Murrue cleared her throat. "I think it would be best if we held that information here amongst ourselves until further notice."

"About that possible contract…" Bartlett smiled.

Murrue rolled her eyes. "The EFA isn't willing to hire mercenaries unless they absolutely have to, and I can't say I absolutely need new pilots, with the records these guys are setting." she motions toward the Razgriz pilots. "That being said, it's also not within the EFA's best interests to let aces like yourselves go back to ZAFT."

"So you'll give us repairs and resupply and we'll fly for your ship?" Bartlett asked.

Murrue frowned; that was exactly what she was going to say. "Yes." She said a few seconds later.

"Excellent." Bartlett grinned.

…

The Strangereal pilots were asked to keep their origins secret.

Naturally, it meant that the entire ship knew within the hour, and honestly could have cared less.

Granted, the authenticity of the story was greatly diminished by the fact that the Strangreal Aces came from a place named after "Strangely Real."

…

…

…

[Start of EFA's Africa takeover operation, several days later]

…

…

…

The EFA forces were poised atop aircraft carriers and landing ships, facing off against the ZAFT DINNs, GINNs, and emplacements along the ZAFT controlled African coastline.

Naturally, the Archangel was nowhere to be seen, since it was sailing in the Pacific Ocean, on a region that would be otherwise known as the Arabian Sea in a different universe.

"I didn't think the Archangel was this fast." Cipher said as he poked around on a map.

"It isn't." Talisman looked at his own map. "Well, the trip to Orb is going to take us at least two weeks, assuming nothing usual happens."

"Which means we'll probably be attacked or something." Cipher mutters. "Why orb?"

"It's the closest pit stop between us and Atlantic that isn't the Eurasian branch."

"Are we just being paranoid or is there a legitimate fear of the Eurasian branch here?" Cipher poked around on his map some more.

"Captain Murrue is worried that Eurasia is going to re-task us to some bullshit mission as soon as we hit land." Talisman sighed. "I agree with her, though."

"Yeah, I can see that." The tension between Eurasia and Atlantic branches weren't getting any better, especially since the Eurasian branch had apparently acquired a new civilian contractor for their arms production. "What do you think about this one?" Cipher showed a news story to Talisman.

"What about it?" Talisman shrugged after scanning it quickly. "Atlantic stops paying Eurasia for technical help and Eurasia stops paying Atlantic for loaning factories…what's not to like?"

Cipher looked pensive. "I don't think an army needs to pay itself for its own facilities."

Talisman stopped for a moment. "Back in Blaze's war, Gründer charged a token sum for every aircraft they sold. Think that's what's going on here?"

"What, the EFA has a hidden arms factory that nobody knows about churning out toys?" Cipher laughed. "It would be reasonable if their toys were worth anything to begin with."

"Yeah, I guess. Every nation has its secrets but not every one of them has a hidden poison inside it…by the way, what are we doing here?" Talisman asked.

"Threat assessment." Cipher went back to his map. "Blaze wants to know if we need to worry about the ZAFT from down south."

Given the current path the Archangel is taking, their route will take them precariously close to the ZAFT controlled territory of Australia, since the Equatorial Union (consisting of a smattering of island nations between Eurasia and Australia) denied the Archangel rights to use the waterways, and Murrue wasn't about to risk starting a war just to cut a few miles off of her sailing path.

"What is there to assess? They're going to attack us as soon as they can." Talisman sighed, going back to the map.

…

On another section of the ship, a small party was being held for Kira's recovery (he wasn't clear on exactly what he was recovering _from_, but went with the flow all the same). However, it became very clear after the first five minutes that Miriallia organized the thing just so she could have a reason to relax for a while.

…

In the hangar, Murdoch scratched his head over the conundrum facing him.

"What do we do about crafts one and four?" A technician asked after handing in a report detailing the maintenance results on the Super Spearheads 2 and 3 belonging to Cipher and Ribbon respectively.

"And here I thought this was going to be easy." Murdoch sighed. "If we retrofit the B-types for air to air, how well are they going to perform?"

"I ran some numbers." An Engineer tapped his tablet computer. "The B-types were retrofitted like fighter bombers, so they'll do fine as long as no strenuous dogfights are involved."

"Well, isn't that a hoot." Murdoch grumbled, his annoyance at the Gründer mechanics returning. "Why the hell did they turn a multirole craft like a Spearhead into something so useless?"

The technician and mechanic shared a look that plainly asked and answered one question:

"Jealous?"

"Very jealous."

Fortunately for them, Murdoch didn't notice.

…

[One week later]

…

Sure enough, as soon as the Archangel sailed near the ZAFT waters the sensors began to beep.

"Captain, we're being targeted by ZAFT long-distance scanners." Miriallia said, feeling a little uneasy.

"Estimates on contact time?" Murrue asked Cipher, who was looking over his notes.

"Eh…according to Talisman, if they launch we'll have about a fifteen minute warning before anything will get within targeting range. Assuming the enemy doesn't pull out any new equipment, that is." Cipher said, resisting the urge to just toss the notes. "If you want us to be on standby just in case, just give us the word."

"Hmm…well, I would like to avoid getting bogged down in a battle if possible." Murrue mused. "Increase speed; the sooner we get out of here the better."

"Aye aye." Arnold Neuman the helmsman said.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Winding down for the first trip to Orb.

Also, the Archangel now has two Gundams operational and available.

Even the Ace Combat pre-battle system is getting a crossover...


	11. Stage 9x - African Takeover Operation

**EFA Africa Takeover Operation**

**After Action Report**

EFA assets (estimate): F-7D Spearhead (150 units), VTOL Fighter (200 units), Arkansas-Class Anti-Air Cruiser (18 ships), Des Moines-class Anti-Ship Cruiser (12 ships), Fraser Class escort-Frigate (40 ships), Spengler Class Carrier (6 ships).

ZAFT assets (estimate): AMF-101 DINN (40 units), TMF/A-802 BuCUE (30 units), ZGMF-1017 GINN (12 units), ZGMF-1017M GINN High Manuever Variant (one, white), Unknown (2 units).

ZAFT reinforcements: ZGMF-1017 GINN (2 units), GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam, GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam.

EFA losses (estimate): Spearheads (140 units lost), VTOL Fighters (all lost), Arkansas-Class (4 damaged, 6 sunk), Des Moines-Class (1 damaged, 11 sunk), Fraser Class (34 damaged, 3 lost), Spengler Carriers (all lost).

ZAFT damages (estimate): DINNs (14 damaged, 11 killed), GINNs (17 damaged, 3 kills), BuCUE (24 damaged, 8 killed).

ZAFT Units assumed to have received field retrofitting, causing tallies unaligned with initial deployment measurements.

Battle Results: The EFA operation to retake Africa was aborted.

**Notables:**

0500: The Des-Moines cruisers commence coastal bombardment on ZAFT defensive positions along the coast.

0630: ZAFT response minimal, EFA Spearheads commence operation over ZAFT shores.

0700: ZAFT DINNs take to the air and engage the EFA air assets.

0720: Spearheads sustain heavy losses and are forced to retreat. Air superiority battle moves over to the EFA lines.

0730: ZAFT DINNs are forced to retreat by Arkansas cruisers' anti-air fire.

0800: Coastal bombardment ceased, ZAFT defensive positions observed as destroyed.

0810: Second wave of Spearheads deployed.

0815: Second wave of Spearheads engage with ZAFT DINNs, gains air superiority over the Coastline.

0830: VTOL fighters deployed.

0840: ZAFT GINNs and BuCUEs found, air-to-land battle ensues.

(_"Soldiers collectively facepalm as head honchos forget land units"_ _is scribbled here_.)

0910: VTOLs deal catastrophic damage to ZAFT land forces through superior maneuvering and weight of numbers.

**0930: White GINN sighted **(This line seemed to have been emphasized after the document was printed)

0932: VTOL teams annihilated; the rest retreat with the white GINN pursuing.

0935: White GINN disappears from EFA observation.

0936: Des-Moines class warships recommence coastal bombardment.

0940: 2nd wave Spearheads return for service, 3rd wave Spearheads deployed.

**1000: ZAFT Unknowns sighted over the fleet **(This line seemed to have been added in in the margins after the document was printed)

1010: ZAFT unknowns strike and damage Des-Moines Cruisers, anti-air cover ineffective. (_Scribbled in the margins are the words "Insignia of the Unknowns: A red swallow sitting on a shield"_)

1015: All but one Des-Moines Cruiser sunk.

1018: ZAFT elements commence bombardment of EFA warships. EFA air elements deploy to engage.

1022: Spengler Carrier "Leopold" sunk. Cause: ZAFT bombardment.

1024: Spengler Carrier "Tarawa" damaged. Cause: ZAFT unknown crafts. EFA high command declares emergency sortie of all EFA assets.

1025: Spengler Carrier "Tarawa" sunk. Cause: ZAFT unknown crafts.

1028: Spengler Carrier "Augustus" sunk. Cause: ZAFT bombardment.

1030: White GINN reappears.

1031: Arkansas class "Alma", "Austin", "Monticello", "Sherwood", "Malvern", and "Ozark" sunk. Cause: White GINN. (_Profanities are scribbled over this line.)_

1035: All EFA assets deployed.

1036: Spengler Carrier "Alexander" sunk. Cause: White GINN.

1040: ZAFT reinforcements arrive from orbit and engage EFA air elements.

1050: EFA loses air superiority to ZAFT.

1100: EFA in full retreat.

1101: Spengler Carrier "Hannibal" and "Damocles" sunk. Cause: The stole G-units Aegis and Blitz. (_Scribbled over this line are profanities targeted at the Atlantic federation)_

1102: EFA declares intention to withdraw from the battle.

End of Battle.

Recommend to high command: (This section is blank.)

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Side stories mean I can do some weirder things!

The names of the ships in quotes are pretty much made up on the spot (except the Arkansas ones, which were picked out from a list of towns in Arkansas. Wikipedia!)

Also, yes, Yzak is getting more and more badass by virtue of just constantly needing to play catch up against the protagonists.

It feels just...I dunno, _right, _to have the major antagonists get reassigned somewhere else and just kick serious amounts of ass.


	12. Stage 10 - Distant Thunder

"Razgriz three, Bugs on your 5, low."

"Copy." Mobius One banked and turned hard left. "I'm spiked." He said as soon as he heard his radar warning blare.

"On it." Talisman zipped behind Mobius one and cleared away the missiles with a burst of machine gun fire.

"Damn, these guys don't give up easily, do they." Mobius One sighs as he found himself behind the DINN ("Bug" according to Sky Eye) as its pilot focused on Talisman. One well-placed stream of gun fire later, the DINN spiraled into the ocean with one set of its wings missing.

"Razgriz one and two, status on refueling." Sky Eye asked.

"2 minutes." Murdoch grumbled, watching the battery removal team go about their business.

…

Almost as soon as the Archangel entered ZAFT territory it came under attack from the ZAFT forces.

Worryingly, the ZAFT attacks were at best light but extended, forcing the Aces to split their flight into waves in order to constantly maintain air cover over the ship as it travelled at top speed out of ZAFT territory.

As such, the Archangel was now going through her fortieth hour of sustained (light) attack.

"Bridge, we got a problem." Murdoch said as soon as one of his technicians made an X with his arms.

"Bridge. What's the issue?" Sky Eye asked.

"Their batteries are shot." Murdoch sighed. The Technicians responsible for replacing the batteries were currently spraying it down with coolant so it could be dismounted and a fresh battery replaced.

"Damn. Sky Eye to air units."

"We're listening." Mobius One returned to his patrol path as the other two DINNs in the attack backed off.

"Your relief is delayed; can you maintain air superiority over your combat zone?"

"Shouldn't be a problem." Mobius One said, taking a moment to look at the other combat zone, being manned by Kira.

…

Kira Yamato was responsible for protecting the front of the Archangel as it sailed.

Which meant that he was bearing the brunt of the attack from the enemy DINNs, and responding beautifully.

Unfortunately, his skill meant that ZAFT gave up trying to engage him directly and fell back on conducting long distance bombardment instead, forcing Kira to constantly travel out of the combat zone as delegated by Sky Eye to stop the bombardment from their sources, and failing most of the time as the ZAFT artillery would move and hide long before the Strike got within attack range.

"Kira here, I'm almost out." Kira said as he landed on one of Archangel's Gottfried guns above the hangar and quickly sipped from a drink; he hadn't had time to eat or drink anything since breakfast.

"Sky Eye, roger; Tolle squadron, you're cleared to launch."

"Tolle squadron, roger, launching." Tolle and his Spearhead (and his unnamed wingman) took to the air, as the Strike jumped back into the hangar, walking in instead of using the catapults.

"Please hurry with the resupply." Kira said, not bothering to leave Strike's cockpit.

"Wouldn't it be faster to just take the Duel out instead?" Murdoch couldn't help but ask.

"The Duel can't fly, and I can't fight underwater." Kira said quickly.

"Right, gotcha. Hurry with the recharging!" Murdoch yelled.

"ZAFT units incoming from zone 3, Mu flight, be advised." Sky Eye suddenly said.

"Damn. I can't hit them from here." Mu's Skygrasper dropped suddenly to dodge a blast from a DINN's shotgun. "Bartlett!"

"I'm on him." Captain Bartlett sighted the DINN in his Wyvern and fired a missile, forcing the DINN to evade into the path of his guns. "Target neutralized." Bartlett said as the DINN limped home with smoking wings.

"Why can't we just hit the enemy airfields?" Tolle asked, glad that the airspace he occupies is clean.

"Which role do you want? Protect the ship or hit the base?" Mu asked with a bitter laugh.

"Well, I mean…"

"I know what you mean, kid." Mobius One said, catching his breath after another session of protracted and fruitless combat. "But we can hardly walk away from the ship as it is."

"I wonder why they didn't just launch a full scale attack?" Talisman heard his computer beep. "Talisman to Bridge, I'm on reserve fuel."

"Bridge, copy; Hangar, how's the refueling coming?" Sky Eye asked.

"They need new batteries, so we're going to have a hole in our net for a few minutes if those two comes home." Murdoch said gruffly. Cipher's Spearhead actually had an electrical malfunction and the battery's connectors had burst into flames.

"The Archangel is hardly defenseless; we need to prepare in case ZAFT decides to launch a major assault. Have them come home." Murrue said.

"Roger, captain. Sky Eye to Razgriz three, four: you're cleared to return."

"Talisman, copy." Talisman banked to line himself up with the rather fast ship.

…

…

"Sheesh." A ZAFT base mechanic scratched his head as another DINN waddled out of the water, miles away in a base. "Why the hell is command telling us to do this?" He looked behind him at the DINNs lined up missing some piece of their bodies. "We're almost out of serviceable units as it is."

"Shut up and get back to work." His coworked grumbled, signaling a service truck carrying a replacement wing.

…

…

"Sky Eye to all units, field is clear."

"About time." Mu sighs deeply. "Seriously, this is the first break we've had since we got here."

"No kidding, I guess ZAFT ran out of units." Cipher chuckles. "If they attacked en masse we'd be in trouble. Cipher, RTB."

"Mu, returning to ship."

…

"Which reminds me, why didn't they attack en mass?" Talisman says between bites of his food. "That seems like a very amateurish thing to do."

"Guess they knew about you guys." Bartlett laughs and claps Blaze on the back. "You guys scored an incredible amount of kills in every major engagement, so they ran away scared."

"Uh, sirs." Miriallia says from the doorway. "Captain Murrue wants all of you to rest if you can."

"If we can? We need to launch at a moment's notice, how can we rest like that?" Tolle grumbles, eating as fast as Talisman.

"Just do it." Miriallia snaps.

"Yes Miri." Tolle said meekly.

…

"While our ship hasn't sustained any damage from bombardment, we're rapidly running out of parts for our combat units." Natarle says and folds the paper containing the report from Murdoch.

Murrue sighs. "I guess we have to consider ZAFT as a possible abductor of this ship."

Natarle nods. "I can think of no other reasonable explanation for why they are trying to run us out of resources; I suggest that we ground all of our aircraft unless ZAFT launches an all-out attack."

Murrue frowns. "I would like to get this ship to Alaska without having to stop for repairs on the way."

"That may be so, but I think we're going to end up stopping for supply in Orb anyways." Natarle's sense for military regulation had declined under the never ending stress of the previous two days of incessant combat. "We're starting to run low on munitions for the Spearheads, even with the insanely good accuracy that the Aces have."

"Aces, huh?" Murrue has a slight smile playing on her face.

Natarle caught the hint, but is just far too tired to care. "I don't know what you're implying, captain." Natarle's flat tone cut off that conversation.

"It's true, though." Arnold Neuman the helmsman yawns, glad that he could finally set the autopilot for the Archangel instead of paying constant attention for evasive flying. "They're really damn good, even after being shot down or whatever."

"I don't think the Archangel's munition list was designed with Spearheads in mind." Sai grumbles. While Murdoch had erred on the side of caution when getting the Archangel resupplied (as in, he obtained far more small scale missiles than he had any right to) they were still finding themselves short.

"Won't surprise me. This ship wasn't meant to deploy so quickly, after all." Neuman yawns yet again.

"Speculation aside, you guys should go get some sleep; I doubt ZAFT will attack us right now, especially after when we sent so many of their DINNs into the ocean." Natarle half-staggered out of the bridge.

…

…

…

The ZAFT dock workers woke to the sight of the red Aegis Gundam landing in the open runways, followed almost immediately by the Buster, Blitz, and, to the excitement of the base, White High Mobility GINN.

"Glad you could make it, Cruset team." The base commander saluted the four young boys once they walked into the briefing room.

Athrun saluted back. "We're here per orders from our captain, and we're here to assist in any way we can."

Behind him, he heard whispers.

"Who are those kids?"

"I didn't think Cruset recruited amateurs to his team."

"Think I could get in if I had connections like that?"

And so on.

The Commander, having heard those comments, couldn't help but roll his eyes at the pilots assigned to his base, although he could hardly blame them. Due to the N-Jammers ZAFT deployed communications with their home long range communications is preciously rare.

"These young gentlemen are here to assist our efforts in our next operation. Please," he motioned at Athrun and company, "introduce yourselves."

"Athrun Zala."

"Nicol Amalfi."

"Yzak Joule."

"Dearka Elsman."

As soon as the introductions ended, a new round of whispers began.

"Zala? The son of that council guy?"

"Amalfi? Never heard of that name; must be another councilman."

"Cruset really likes his boys, I guess."

"Dearka! Hey man! How's it goin'?!" Dearka waved back at whoever yelled that one with a wide grin.

However, the most numerous comments were made about Yzak.

"Yzak Joule…so that's the Silver Scorpion."

"No, seriously? A kid that young is an Ace?"

"Not just "an Ace", he's good enough to be an Ace of Aces."

"Didn't you see the vid from Africa? Kid's got mad skills and some seriously huge balls."

"I can't believe it…"

"What the hell have you guys been doing on the surface?" Athrun demanded with a hiss.

"Those were ship kills though." Yzak said with a grin.

Technically, all four of the ZAFT boys were aces (in terms of having more than five confirmed kills, although ZAFT bookkeeping is spotty at best) but Yzak is the only one to be an ace several times over.

Before, it would have gone straight to his head.

Now, it just cements the fact that the archangel's pilots he fought against were miles above him, under the (rather dubious) logic that if he was good enough to be an ace many times over and still lose, then those pilots must be better.

Before, it would have soured his mood.

Now, it just fills him with the anticipation of battle.

"Now, gentlemen, please take a seat." The captain motioned to the ZAFT boys.

…

"For the past two days, we have conducted long range strategic operations on this EFA prototype warship." The captain pointed to a picture of the Archangel on the large screen behind him, "with the final operational objective of capturing the warship intact, if possible."

"Question." Athrun raised his hand. "Why did you not conduct a full scale attack at the first available opportunity?"

The Commander seemed bored by the question. "We heard from Rau about how good their pilots are" pictures of the Super Spearheads popped up on the screen "when backed into a corner and facing overwhelming disadvantage, so we're playing it safe by pulling out all their teeth first."

"And by doing that you've backed them into a proverbial corner before the battle even begins." Yzak growled.

The Commander didn't hear him.

"In any case, at 1200 hours today we will commence the final step of the operation. If you have any concerns, name them now."

"How are we gonna fly?" Dearka asked.

"With these." A picture of a very flat-looking jet shaped like a banana appeared on the screen, complete with a pair of locks meant for a mobile suit's legs. "We'll have to make some adjustments to fit the EFA mobile suits, but these Guuls should offer you the aerial mobility you need."

Athrun noted that a bead of sweat ran down Yzak's cheek. "You ok there? Yzak?" He asked.

"I'm…no, I'm terrified." Athrun saw fear in Yzak's eyes, a fear created by knowledge, and it worried him greatly. "In a fight with those guys, mobility is all that matters. We had some insanely good pilots tying them up last time, and that battle ended with us losing the Lesseps. I don't know how it's going to go with that advantage gone this time."

He then saw a picture of a Wyvern flying over the Archangel.

"Shit."

…

…

[1120 Hours, Archangel]

…

…

"Can't sleep anymore?" Talisman asked Blaze as the second man walked into the cafeteria.

"I had a gut feeling." Blaze sighed, getting and wolfing down his food as quickly as possible.

"I think that goes for all of us." Sky Eye said, appearing at the entrance with Cipher and Ribbon.

"Jeez, looks like nobody can get some decent shuteye on this ship anymore." Mu laughed, accompanying Kira.

"Can you blame us?" Talisman said while sipping his drink. "ZAFT's planning something huge; even if we can't feel it we'd know that."

"Yeah. Speaking of which, Murdoch?" Cipher looked toward the corner.

Murdoch slammed his coffee mug on the table. "We had to jerry rig your bomber for air to air, Cipher. Sorry about that." Cipher's Air Supremacy Super Spearhead's electrical malfunction effectively grounded the fighter until they could get replacement parts for it, which can only happen if a bomber was stripped down, and even then the mechanics didn't have the time to do that.

"That won't be a problem." Cipher said confidently; Blaze and Talisman were flying retrofitted bombers and were doing pretty well, after all.

Flay took this moment to walk into the cafeteria with a very unkempt uniform.

The two groups (men vs a girl) stared at each other for a few seconds before Flay woke up and ran away screaming.

The general thought process among the men (at least the Aces) was "she's still on the ship?"

…

"It's not like ZAFT was going to seriously attack us without any units, Flay. Of course I let them sleep in." Murrue said once Flay (properly dressed) lodged her complaint.

The only action the Archangel saw during the entire morning was a half-hearted attack from a pair of DINNs, and they were repelled quickly with a barrage from the Corinth missiles.

"But still…! All of them suddenly being awake and gathering like that, it's just weird!" Flay insisted, having totally forgotten the fact that most of the men in question were in fact from a different dimension.

Murrue didn't feel like reminding her. "They've always been like that, besides…you shouldn't walk around a military ship as if it's your own house."

Flay frowned. "Yes, I apologize. I'm sorry." She didn't quite sound sorry.

"Contacts! Cruise missiles incoming!" Sai suddenly shouted. "ETA sixty seconds!"

"Intercept!" Murrue shook off her exhaustion. "Why the hell are they shooting at us with missiles now?!" She demanded from no one as Flay quickly left the bridge.

…

"Why are you shooting at them with cruise missiles now?" Athrun felt the need to ask.

"First stage." The Commander said smugly. "All units, depart, I wish you all well."

…

The cruise missiles flying at the Archangel were summarily intercepted by the Igelstellung anti-air fire.

"Yow!" Sai ripped his headphones off his head in a hurry. "We're getting jammed. Those missiles must've been loaded." With what, he didn't know.

"Dammit." Murrue scowled. "Have all crafts launch immediately."

"Way ahead of you." Mu said with a cocky grin. "Mu La Flaga, launching!"

"Kira Yamato, Strike, heading out!"

"Tolle Koenig, Duel, launching!"

"Whoa, whoa, kid, what are you doing?!" Mu demanded. "Murdoch, abort his launch!"

"No can do, Flaga. We know what we're doing." Murdoch said with a cocky grin.

"I'll provide support for the Archangel!" Tolle declared, planting himself right on top of the Archangel's Gottfried cannon head. Inwardly, he admitted that there was very little else he could do in a serious firefight.

"It'll be fine." Kira reassured them.

"Did you help him with the OS?" Blaze asked while his Spearhead was rolled onto a catapult.

"I wanted to." Kira admitted. "But ZAFT has some kind of protection on it, and I don't have the time to crack it right now."

_ZAFT? _Blaze couldn't help but wonder. _Why would ZAFT have protection on the OS after the Gründer mechanics got their hands on it? _He then shook those thoughts aside.

"Razgriz…" Blaze felt an odd sensation down his spine. "No. Blaze, Wardog one, launching!"

…

"Looks like they're out in force." Dearka muttered. "Do we have combat clearance?"

"As soon as we have a shot." Yzak said, double checking out of nervousness.

"Yzak, this isn't like you." Nicol couldn't help but say.

"I'll be more like me once the battle starts." Yzak grumbles. "Dearka, do the honors."

"With pleasure!"

…

…

"Incoming long range fire, probably from the Buster." Sky Eye said, having taken his position as an operator.

"Looks like we're in for a hell of a fight." Blaze said, looking down at his radar on the sheer number of blips coming toward them. "Although I expected more of them."

"Goes to show we're not all that important to ZAFT." Mobius One grunts. "I count twenty."

"Some of them have oversized signatures." Talisman frowns. "Maybe they're fielding new equipment?"

"Heat sig." Blaze says as an alarm sounds in his cockpit. "It's probably the Buster. All units, break!"

As soon as the four Aces split, a green beam struck the ocean near the Archangel.

"We're taking fire." Sai warns.

"Working on it." Blaze growls. "Strike will engage the Gundams, Razgriz will run support."

"Roger." Kira locks his sights onto the Buster and fires haphazardly to its general direction.

…

"Jeez!" Dearka's cockpit lit up with a warning when the Buster's shoulder took a hit. "You lucky little bastard!"

"Dearka, fall back. Nicol, Athrun, take the Strike. Everyone else, focus on the Aces, don't get separated from your company." Yzak said quickly.

"Roger that." Athrun and Nicol acknowledged as they dove at the Strike, while the DINNs climbed to meet the Aces head on.

…

"Heads up, they're coming at us." Blaze warned, inverting and leading the other Aces in a dive. "Two with me."

"Copy." Cipher poured machine gun to sweep ineffectually over the incoming DINNs.

…

Kira looked up and saw the Blitz riding on top of some flying platform, bearing down upon him.

"Out of my way." Kira said evenly, flying upward to meet the Blitz. The two flew past each other while exchanging a blow with their beam sabers.

Kira turned sharply and fired a shot at the back of the Blitz.

"Damn." Nicol gritted his teeth, trusting in the acceleration of the Guul and pulling up slightly to avoid the beam rifle shot.

"It's faster than I thought." Kira muttered, before turning his attention to the Aegis charging at him.

"Kira." Athrun fires his beam rifle at the Strike.

"I need to get to the Buster." Kira mutters as he dodges the Aegis's fire and returns the favor, firing at the Guul attached to the Aegis's feet.

"I got you!" The Blitz flies in with the intent to charge the Strike, before being forced to break off the charge from a long distance shot from the Archangel. "What the…?"

"Kira, I got your back." Tolle says with a grin. The Duel, by virtue of being the same unit design as the Strike, had no problems integrating the Launcher Pack's AGNI Positron Cannon and utilizing it. "This is Tolle, give me the coordinates of the Buster, I'll do the rest."

"Cheeky now that you have a Gundam, aren't we, Tolle?" Kira smirks, focusing on the Blitz that has just broken off its charge and was now flying above him a little too slowly.

"Damn!" Nicol detached the Guul as beam rifle shots from the Strike tore its engines apart. The Blitz, lacking the propulsion necessary to keep itself flying, fell unceremoniously into the ocean.

"Tch! Nicol! Dammit!" Athrun yells and charges at the Strike.

Kira's response is to turn and fire his beam rifle at the Aegis.

Athrun pushes the thrust on the Guul to maximum and then detaches it from the Aegis. The force of the ejection pushes the Guul out of the line of fire and straight into the Strike's torso.

Kira felt himself slammed against the restraints holding him against his seat as the Guul tried stubbornly to drive itself into the Strike. Almost immediately his energy indicator beeped an alarm as the thrusters hungrily drank the energy required to keep the Strike from being rammed into the water. Kira opened his eyes just in time to see the Aegis descending upon him with a flying kick (complete with an extended beam saber in its foot, too).

…

Talisman was getting sick and tired of the threat alarm blaring in his ear. "Three, I could use a little help with my six." He said, watching the three DINNs on his tail follow him at a leisurely distance, blanketing his Spearhead with shotgun fire.

"Would love to, four." Mobius One pulled up sharply, throwing off a DINN but nearly getting shot by the other two on his tail. "But I'm having a little issue getting to you."

"Makes all of us." Blaze fired a missile at a DINN behind Cipher, and watched another DINN provide covering fire and destroy the missile. "These guys aren't very good but their teamwork is a lot better than the guys we fought so far."

Cipher laughed. "That's not a very high bar." He then accelerated toward Mobius One. "Three, stop flailing for a second."

Mobius One flew straight for a second and then turned sharply. The DINNs flying behind him turned to aim their shotguns.

"Team three, sharp dive." Yzak ordered, and the DINNs dropped fast, causing Cipher's missiles to sail over their head and miss harmlessly.

"Whoa." Cipher sounded just a little bit surprised. "These guys are pretty good." He then inverted into a sharp turn and dove after the DINNs with his machine guns blaring.

Cipher then banked and turned hard to avoid a stream of bullets headed his way, courtesy of Yzak's White GINN. "This guy's got some good senses." Cipher muttered.

"Team three, continue with your mission, and watch your fuel." Yzak said, focusing on the Spearhead that just pulled away from him. "Team two, you're behind, don't let him go."

"Shit, this isn't getting better." Blaze growled, firing off a round of chaff against the missiles on his tail.

…

"Damn. Sky Eye to all units! New heat signatures emerging from the water!" Neil growled, looking at the large signatures. "Size…they're probably ZAFT Submarines!"

"Valiant! Corinth! Calibrate and fire at will! Duel! Forget about the Buster and hit the subs!" Natarle commanded.

"More heat signatures! ZAFT Bugs deployed from enemy submarines!" Neil clenched his hand into a fist.

"Torpedo alert!" Sai suddenly yelled.

"Get us out of the ocean!" Murrue ordered, and the Archangel began separating itself from the ocean surface.

The Archangel then dropped heavily into the Ocean amidst a flurry of explosions.

"What the hell were those things?" Sai demanded from nobody in particular as he rubbed his forehead. "Flooding in the bottom deck!"

…

"Holy shit, Blaze, we're in trouble." Talisman looked at the cloud of DINNs converging on the Archangel.

"I can see that." Blaze turned to avoid more fire aimed at his plane. "Razgriz! Ignore the idiots on your tail and sweep the bugs going after our ship!"

"Easier said than done." Cipher heard something strike his wing.

"What's the matter, Razgriz? We need your support here!" Sky Eye demanded.

"We're having trouble shaking off the enemies on our tail." Mobius One hated himself for admitting this shortcoming.

Neil looked incredulous, and then smacked himself on the forehead. "Of course. I forgot…no Strangreal Ace should fly without true AWACS support."

"What are you talking about?" Blaze demanded.

Sky Eye doesn't answer, but instead he pushes a button.

A song comes onto the general EFA frequency, and upon hearing the first two notes, Mobius One could not help but grin.

"I see what you mean, Sky Eye." Ribbon laughs, feeling his spirits lift. "We're aces because nobody can touch us. Mobius One!" His Spearhead rolls to avoid a blanket of shotgun fire, and then flips so tightly and loses so much speed it might have stayed still in mid-air. As the DINNs flew past the Spearhead all of them immediately felt the sting of a missile, and the three DINNs spiraled into the ocean, trailing smoke.

"Engage." Sky Eye finished for him, smiling despite himself and the alarms sounding around him.

…

"What's with the music?" Mu asked, firing his guns and missiles into the DINN cloud.

"It's tradition. AWACS in our world plays music to help psyche up its pilots." Blaze laughs. "I can see your reputation is well deserved, Sky Eye."

"Well, I do try." Neil laughs, in spite of the hits the Archangel is taking.

"Cipher, I'll clear you, so return the favor?" Blaze asks coyly.

"Sure thing, boss." Cipher turned and the two Spearheads flew at breakneck speeds toward each other.

The two planes then turned and flew inverted parallel to each other, close enough for Blaze to see into Cipher's cockpit, and in the instant they cleared each other's tail, both of them fired a salvo of missiles at each other's pursuers.

Said pursuers, expecting the two to break away from each other at the last possible second like a feint maneuver, were caught by surprise and summarily shot down.

"Alright, that's that." Cipher grinned. "Let's clear Talisman's tail while we're at it."

Talisman had dove down to the ocean surface, with the three DINNs following.

Talisman counted in his head. _Almost…almost…now! _He then fired his VTOL engines inverse to each other (one pointing up, one pointing down) and kicked up the ocean surface while rolling wildly, creating plumes of white water behind him.

The DINNs, being designed well enough to handle a little water, could care less, and followed him unfazed.

Until the water stopped and the Spearhead they followed was nowhere to be seen.

Talisman pulled up behind the DINNs, paying no heed to the alarms signaling VTOL engine failure, and sprayed the two DINNs with machine gun fire.

The two DINNs heard their engines sputter and go offline, and realized too late that the Spearhead they were chasing led them to a still surfaced ZAFT submarine.

"Enemy Submarine, Sunk!" Talisman said proudly, before hearing his threat alarm warn him of the last DINN hot on his tail. With his VTOL engines no longer working, Talisman simply pulled his Spearhead's nose up into a near vertical and cut his speed to nearly nothing, forcing the DINN to overshoot.

Talisman then straightened out his aircraft and shot the DINN full of holes before it finished turning around.

"Guess he didn't need our help after all." Cipher mused.

"No surprises there, he's an Ace like us, after all." Blaze felt…odd, as if a part of him that was missing was now being returned, piece by piece. "Razgriz, form up, we're doing some extermination work."

Four Super Spearheads flew back into formation, before inverting to dive into the DINNs fluttering around the Archangel.

…

"Tch, how did they change like that?!" Yzak snarled. "I don't believe this…all units, watch your backs! The EFA elites are headed our way!"

"I'll slow them down." Dearka said grimly. "Everyone else, focus on crippling that ship!"

"Don't overdo it, Dearka." Yzak warned.

Dearka only had a light laugh in reply.

…

Kira heard the music resonate within him, as if providing him with strength.

The Aegis, having transformed into its mobile armor form to provide enough lift to keep itself flying, flew over the Strike and transformed back into a mobile suit, descending with a kick.

Kira felt one thought enter his head, honing his focus: _Protect the Archangel._

Athrun flinched in surprise as the Guul suddenly exploded. The Strike turned and the remains of the Guul (namely, its engine) careened off into the ocean.

Athrun, unable to stop his kick, decided to just follow it through while firing at the Strike with his beam rifle.

Kira accelerated straight forward and flew underneath the Aegis, ignoring it entirely.

"I have him, Athrun!" Nicol took aim at the Strike with his Glepnir grapple, and fired it at the Strike.

The Strike caught the Glepnir hook with one deft move and continued to accelerate, dragging the Blitz forward with a jerk and forcing it off balance into the ocean again.

"You're not getting away!" The Aegis transformed into its mobile armor form again and followed after the Strike.

…

The DINN pilots felt the first shock when the Spearheads blew through their ranks with their guns blazing, dealing a massive amount of damage and killing several DINNs outright.

They felt their second shock when the Spearheads blew through their ranks, weaving through fire from the DINNs and anti-air fire from the Archangel without crashing into anything at speeds that can only be described as suicidal.

"Razgriz, missiles?" Blaze asked, getting three numbers in reply. "We have ten shots total…ok. Hit anything and everything, kill them all!"

The Spearheads, having broken through the ranks still in formation, separated and dove back into the DINNs.

The DINN pilots recovered from their surprise and flew higher, creating more distance between them and the anti-air fire from the Archangel.

Not that it helped any, since at any moment if a DINN turned its head away from a Spearhead it would immediately take hits to its back, and if a DINN even so much as stopped within the flight path of a Spearhead (say, in order to shoot them) the poor DINN would have its wings clipped by said Spearhead at a frightening pace.

To round the whole thing off, if a DINN flew high to get the proverbial drop on a Spearhead, it would meet a quick and messy end at the hands of Mu La Flaga.

"I can't believe I'm all the way up here." Mu sighed. His Skygrasper was equipped with the Sword Strike Pack and per Murrue's orders was told to stay the hell away from the main engagement.

After a good minute of fighting the few DINNs that were left decided to fire everything they had at the Archangel and go home.

"Damn." Dearka shook his head in disbelief; his attempt to stop the Aces was met with horrible failure, as the lead fighter simply inverted to be lower than him and totaled the Guul the Buster was standing on, dropping the heavy bombardment Gundam unceremoniously into the ocean.

"Shit. Razgriz! They're dropping everything they have! Stop them!" Blaze's fighter made an astoundingly tight turn and fired its remaining missiles. "Fox Three!"

"Fox Three! Fox Three!" The rest of the Aces echoed, firing their missiles at the DINNs.

"Talisman, your six." Sky Eye said.

"I got him." Kira replied, as Talisman turned to avoid a bazooka shot.

"Damn, I don't need you right now." Yzak snarled, watching the Strike fly up to meet him.

_Only 10% energy left. I need to win here. _Kira thought, watching the white GINN pull out its beam saber.

Kira threw the Strike's shield at the GINN and pulled out his beam sabers.

Yzak boosted upward with a jolt from his engines, dodging the shield. Said shield lodged itself in an unfortunate DINN and the two sailed into the ocean.

Kira closed into melee range with Yzak, and with a swift, almost inhumanly swift move, separated the GINN from its sword arm.

"How…" Yzak spun to kick.

The Strike ducked down, avoiding the kick, before using its engines to drive itself almost vertically upward with its beam saber outstretched.

The GINN, with its back facing the Strike, unleashed a jolt of power from its engines and pushed itself barely out of the Strike's reach.

In response, the Strike turned and tackled the GINN from behind, and the two sailed into the ocean surface.

"God dammit, what's with this guy?!" Yzak couldn't help but smile due to his adrenaline. With a blast from his high mobility engines his GINN broke free from the Strike and flipped to be above it.

Kira heard his suit raked by gunfire, and his Phase Shift Armor powered down, finally out of juice.

_Stronger, faster. _Kira's whole mind was focused upon those two words as the Strike dropped into the ocean.

"Yzak!" Nicol and Athrun finally arrived onto the scene, slowed by not having the Guuls or the raw thrust power of Yzak's High Mobility GINN.

"I think…no, like hell did I get him. What's the situation?" Yzak demanded.

"Bad." Dearka helpfully replied, with the Buster's head barely visible over the ocean surface. "Also, I think I need a swimsuit, or a good fish recipe."

"Commander, requesting withdrawal from combat, I don't think we're going to capture the Legged Ship at this rate." Athrun said to the radio.

"What?!" The ZAFT Commander back at base didn't sound happy.

"We're almost out of energy here and…" Athrun looked at the radar. "All of our DINNs are dead."

The sky over the Archangel was filled with smoke, shrapnel, four Spearheads, and a Skygrasper, with not a ZAFT unit in sight.

"I don't believe this." The ZAFT Commander was positively livid. "How could you mess this up so badly? Continue with the mission!"

"What the hell…you can't be serious?!" Dearka was incredulous. As if to bring the point home, an explosion some distance from the Archangel when it fired into the ocean suggested that ZAFT just lost one of their submarines.

Suddenly, the water beneath the White GINN exploded, and the Strike ascended with its beam saber alight.

"Yzak!" Nicol moved to block with his shield-mounted beam saber.

Without even a moment's pause, the Strike cut the Blitz's arms from its body, and with a swift engine-assisted turn cut the Blitz in half.

The Strike and the remains of the Blitz plunged into the ocean.

The rest of the ZAFT boys looked on in shock.

"Nicol!" Athrun yelled into the radio.

"I'm alive, but…" Nicol's voice came over the radio, choppy and static-filled.

"Continue with the mission!" The ZAFT Commander insisted.

"Fuck off!" Athrun snapped. "All ZAFT units! Ceasefire! Ceasefire! Commence search and rescue operations! NOW!" He stared at the position where the Strike plunged into the ocean, as if wishing for it to appear again.

"Nicol! Nicol!" Dearka shouted into the radio. "Shit, no response. Can the Blitz's core float?"

"Like hell I know." Yzak dove into the ocean with his GINN.

…

…

"Whoa, are they givin' up?" Blaze remarked, watching the two remaining ZAFT submarines fire flares into the sky.

"Sky Eye to all units: all clear, mission is complete." He winded down the music that has been playing in the background (on loop) the entire time. "How did you like it, Mobius One?"

"Feels like home, Sky Eye." Mobius One sighed contently. "Feels like home."

"Uh…guys? Kira picked something up." Tolle said, from his position in the water.

"How are you in the ocean?" Talisman asked curiously.

"I uh…I fell." Tolle answered sulkily.

"…How?" was the general reaction from all of the Razgriz.

"Nevermind that now." Tolle said hurriedly. "The Strike's coming back and it's holding onto something."

"Oh, good." Murdoch said to nobody in particular as he listened to the audio feed. "He has a gift for throwing away my shield. Now I don't have to skin him."

…

…

[Hours later]

…

…

The three remaining ZAFT Gundam Boys landed on top of a Submarine, getting pulled back into its hangars.

"No luck?" Athrun asked the sonar operator as soon as he arrived onto the bridge.

The operator shook his head. "No sir; we found the scraps of the unit, but there's no SOS from inside it. Our recovery drones didn't find anything either."

Athrun nearly punched the machinery in frustration.

"I guess he's MIA now." Dearka said with a hollow laugh.

Yzak seethed with anger at himself, Nicol, and the Strike.

Anger at the Strike for attacking so underhandedly.

Angry at Nicol for being so damned ready to jump the gun…

And angry at himself for not having acted in time to fish the boy out of the ocean.

"How dare you supercede my order, Athrun?!" The ZAFT Commander shouted over the radio, his face projected onto a screen in the bridge.

"Shut it." Athrun said softly. "A good commander should know when to pull out of the fight, and you gave field authority to me."

"With all due respect, sir." The captain of the sub said, saluting the screen. "We lost all forty DINNs, and we've recovered only six pilots…by all measures a retreat is the most logical course of action."

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Captain." The Commander snapped. "We lost two subs and forty DINNs and all we got was some of that ship's paintjob! This is unacceptable!"

"Don't you think we know that?" Athrun said wearily, feeling his rage build. "Commander, what do you propose we do to continue the attack, then?"

The Commander gritted his teeth, which was all he could do so far removed from the battle. "Watch your tone, boy."

Whatever he was going to say next was interrupted by an air raid siren.

…

The sky over the ZAFT base saw the presence of a single X-02 Wyvern, which then proceeded to, as one observer remarked, "Bomb the living hell out of that base."

…

"Archangel, this is Heartbreak One." Neil heard over the long distance radio.

"This is Sky Eye, report your situation." Neil replied.

"Strike on enemy base successful. Their hangars and radios are dead and I think I hit an ammo dump at some point." Captain Bartlett laughed. "We'll be home free for the rest of the trip."

"Copy that, Heartbreak One. Take vector 060 and return to ship."

"You got it, boss."

…

"What happened?" Athrun wondered as the line between The ZAFT Commander and the sub broke.

"Report from forward observatories:" An operator said. "A single fighter struck the base, heavy damage…I guess he's dead now."

"Well, shit." The captain said apathetically. "How unfortunate."

…

"So what did you find, kid?" Murdoch grumbled, until he saw the thing in the Strike's hands. "Well, I'll be damned, kid…you recovered a cockpit block?"

"The one belonging to the Blitz; I got it before it sank too deep." Kira said, gently putting the block down onto the Archangel Hangar floor.

"Before it sank indeed." Murdoch looked at the Strike's cockpit and the layer of water swirling at the bottom. "The Strike isn't built for underwater missions, goddammit." He bopped Kira on the head as if to make his point.

"Sorry, Murdoch." Kira said sheepishly.

"Nevermind, I guess." Murdoch sighed. "Oy! Get those tools over here! We're busting this open!"

…

A short moment of cutting later, the cockpit's hatch was pried away, and the EFA technicians (and two soldiers led by Murrue) saw the unconscious form of Nicol strapped in the seat.

"A red uniform? That makes him an Ace, doesn't it?" Blaze asked.

"It makes him an elite." Mu corrected him. "Let's get this guy to the medic bay before we question him."

…

"Jeez." Sai sighed, relaxing at the lounge for the first time in three days. "Nice going out there, Tolle." He laughed, clapping Tolle on the back.

"Me?" Tolle laughed in response. "Did you see those guys out there? Holy shit, I mean," Tolle made some weird motion with arms. "Holy shit."

"Tolle." Miriallia said tiredly.

"Sorry, Miri." Tolle calmed down, giving Miriallia the cuddle she was implicitly demanding.

"Kira!" Sai suddenly said, getting the brown-haired boy's attention.

Kira walked into the lounge, dropping with a sigh next to Sai.

"Think we're good for now?" Sai asked him worriedly.

"Probably." Kira shrugged. "I don't think ZAFT is going to try anything after a loss like that."

…

…

Elsewhere, a man watched a video, a very detailed video, concerning the Archangel's battle in ZAFT's Australian territory.

"Well, isn't this wonderful for us." The man smirked. "Looks like our Blue and Pure world can make people that can keep up with the damned mutants." He then scowled.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

For those of you wondering, the music that Sky Eye plays is the Comona theme from Ace Combat 4.

(You can find it easily enough on Youtube)


	13. Stage 11 - Moment's Peace

After the battle in the seas near Australia (for a certain definition of near) the Archangel was largely left alone to its own devices for the rest of its trip in the ZAFT-controlled waters.

Much of it had to do with a certain video that surfaced mere hours after the battle. The fact that there was a video of a large scale battle in the ocean was interesting, however…

"Look at those camera angles." Ribbon said, stopping the video every so often. "There's no way in hell anyone could've gotten shots like that."

The angles he was referring to were very, very close range camera shots of the four aces either killing ZAFT DINNs or maneuvering in some physically implausible fashion between streams of bullets crisscrossing in the sky.

"For someone to get shots like these they had to have been flying with us." Talisman agreed. "But if they did we would've seen it, and I'm pretty sure ZAFT isn't going to release a propaganda video with themselves as the losers."

"Yeah, hell…look at how smooth it is." Mu said, frowning. "Whoever shot this thing didn't care that he was in a warzone."

Regardless of everyone's reservations on the matter, the general consensus was to happily accept the reprieve this video granted them.

The consensus around ZAFT and the rest of the EFA was a little different, however. It was something more along the lines of "oh shit those guys are actually real" with the occasional "I told you so."

…

The Archangel had sailed through the ZAFT seas and was on its way to Orb with relative ease for the past few hours. Hell, Murrue even dropped the threat level on the ship and everyone who wasn't useful for running the ship's operations were told to take some well-deserved rest.

Or at least, that's what Kira Yamato was expecting. Instead, he found himself in the bridge that also happens to be unusually loud for a ship on a relatively peaceful cruise.

"Oh hey, Kira." Tolle said, clapping his friend on the back.

"Tolle. What's going on?" Kira asked, looking around and seeing some faces on the ship he neglected.

"You need to spend less time hanging around the Aces, that's what." Tolle grinned. Kira spent most of his downtime on the Archangel cooped up in his room, refining the Strike's OS. (It was decided after the battle that the Duel's settings would be left as is for the time being, which is why Kira worked only the Strike).

Either way, Kira was now immensely aware that he had more or less ignored all of his friends for the past few days.

On the bridge were all of the SEED kids, the Aces of Strangereal (plus Captain Bartlett and Yellow 13), Cagalli and her bodyguard Kisaka, and Flay Allister and her father.

"I guess there's a really important reason for calling all of us here." Bartlett said gruffly once he noticed Kira on the bridge.

"Ah, yes, well…" Murrue said sheepishly.

"In a nutshell, Orb is a neutral country; this is the first chance you all have gotten in this entire trip to disembark." Natarle said stiffly, looking at the SEED kids.

"If you want to quit the army, now is the time…right?" Cipher said.

Murrue nodded. "In the end, I won't force any of you to stay aboard if you do not want to."

"There's another issue here, isn't there?" Bartlett said. "Otherwise you'd just be calling for the kids to be here."

"Correct." Natarle nodded. "We still need a reason to enter Orb."

"The Archangel is an EFA prototype warship; if Orb accepts the ship into its waters with no justification it'll be seen as a transgression of its neutrality in the war." Murrue said.

"So we need an excuse, big deal." Cipher shrugs and nods at Cagalli. "We have a princess of Orb right here."

There was a momentary pause as everyone interpreted the information.

"What? Cagalli's a princess?" Kira asked, wide-eyed.

"Cagalli isn't a common name." Bartlett said with a shrug. "I'm amazed none of you figured it out."

"It's not like we cared about political news on Heliopolis." Tolle grumbled.

On the other hand, Miriallia gave an excited squeal and hugged Cagalli yelling "I knew it! I knew it!" She then drifted off into excited chatter that nobody understood.

Kisaka sighed. "Just blow our cover wide open, sure…"

"Besides, you still have civilians on board." Flay's father said, referring to himself and Flay. "I'm pretty sure Orb wouldn't turn away a ship carrying normal people even if it's affiliated with the Federation."

…

…

Thus, several hours later, the shores of Orb saw the approach of the Archangel near theirs shores, being escorted by several Orb patrol boats.

"So what's the word?" Blaze asked Cipher as the two watched the Archangel get directed to a dry dock attached to what seems to be a large military facility.

"Orb is calling this a strictly humanitarian mission, and that they're accepting this ship 'out of goodwill among men.' Not at all surprising, I guess." Cipher shrugs. "Though I have to admit they reacted a little too quickly for my tastes."

Blaze stared at him. "Fast…it took them two hours."

Cipher didn't look away from the dock, but cracked a grin. "You know how bureaucracy works; besides, I expected them to just take the civilians and force the ship to stay in international waters."

"Well, yeah, but…" Blaze shook his head. "Y'know what? I'm not gonna ask."

The two of them then blinked in surprise as the ship was properly secured in the dry dock.

"Oy." Cipher muttered, looking around.

"I feel it too, but I don't think it's around here." Blaze shook his head. "It's really faint, too."

"What are you two talking about?" Sai asked.

"It's nothing big; what's up?" Blaze said with a smile.

"Uh, Captain Murrue's orders; full disembark. Morgenroete's going to do a full overhaul of the ship while we're here." Sai said.

"Morgenroete? Is that where we are now?" Cipher asked, following Sai as he made his way around the ship.

"Yeah…why?" Sai asked.

"Just curious." Cipher shrugged.

…

[Elsewhere]

…

"Jeez, are you serious…?" Yzak breathed as the smoldering husk of the ZAFT base they deployed from filled his GINN's main view screen.

"I knew they said the base was hit, but…" Dearka looked around. "I didn't think it would be this…total."

"And this was done by a single Mobile Armor, too." Athrun seethed. The combined losses of the battle, the base, and his friend Nicol weren't doing any favors for his composure. "Do we have anything? Anything at all?"

"Eh…hold on a second." Dearka switched to his infrared screen. "I'm picking up some signals…they're weak, but they're there."

"Survivors?" Yzak switched to his own sensors, picking up nothing.

"Who knows, who cares. Give us the coordinates, we're digging them out." Athrun sighed.

…

[At Orb]

…

The Archangel crew was given room and board in the main Morgenroete facility, where Kira was currently being confronted by a woman in a light brown jacket with short, curly brown hair.

"You want me to assist the Orb's Mobile Suit project?" Kira frowned. "Are you sure? I'm technically still a civilian…"

"I've seen what you've done with the Strike's OS, I'm sure you'll be a lot of help." Erica Simmons, the brown-haired lady, said with a friendly smile. "It's not like we'll be relying on you to do all of the work, after all."

As if to make her point, a grinning young man with brown hair restrained by a blue bandana walked up to Kira, offering a friendly hand.

"Yo! The name's Lowe, Lowe Guele. Nice to meet ya." The young man said.

_Low Gear? _Kira took the offered hand. "Uh…Kira Yamato. Hi…so…"

"I'm responsible for that guy over there." Lowe pointed over his shoulder to a red Mobile Suit behind him, nestled in a mobile suit hangar and separated from them by a wall of glass. Kira noted with a raised eyebrow that the unit in question was equipped with a Mobile Suit sized Katana. "And I built the basis for the OS that you're going to be working on." Lowe said with a grin.

"I haven't agreed to do it though." Kira muttered.

"Ah, c'mon. You like fiddling with machines too, right?" Lowe clapped him on the shoulder. "I can tell, from one mechanic to another. Help Orb out; they're a lot better than the EFA bastards."

"You don't like the EFA?" Kira walked up to the glass screen to stare at the rows of mobile suits lined up in the hangar in various states of construction, namely, at the skeletons of the MBF-M1 Astray, the new workhorse of the Orb military.

"Eh…they've never been good to the Junk Guild." Lowe walked up next to him. "The EFA keeps trying to pass and enforce stupid laws that don't make any goddamned sense, and they keep trying to blame us for all of it." He shrugs. "It's hard to like people who do that."

"Politics aside," Erica piped in. "Your expertise as a Coordinator would be well received."

"Well…sure, I guess." Kira shrugged.

…

[Elsewhere]

…

"Orb accepted an EFA warship into its waters?" A man said.

"Not just that…the ship was built with the help of Morgenroete." A second man said with a chuckle. "Looks like Orb is hardly nearly as neutral as it claims to be."

"Doesn't surprise me…Uzumi is anything but neutral." The first man sneered. "Well, that's fine too…how's our little project coming along?"

"Proceeding about as well as I can hope." The second man chuckled. "Having the Aces give us such good footage certainly didn't hurt. We just need the EFA to keep working and we'll be well on our way."

…

[Orb]

…

"Lowe, who's that guy over there?" A blue haired girl asks him.

"Who, Kira?" Lowe looks over to where she's pointing. "He's helping you guys with the Astray program."

"Oh, so he's the guy Erica roped?" A yellow haired girl said. "He's pretty cute; can he really do this kind of stuff?"

"He's supposed to be a super coordinator or something." A red haired girl said with a shrug. "I guess that makes him special."

Lowe frowns at that. "That's not very nice."

The blue haired girl quickly sides with Lowe. "Yeah, Mayura, that's not very nice!"

The yellow haired girl pokes the blue haired girl on the chin. "Siding with Lowe so quickly, huh, Juri…I think something's up, don't you?" She looks at Mayura, the red haired girl, who grins evilly and nods.

"Wh-there's nothing going on, Asagi!" The blue haired Juri pouts.

"What are you girls talking about?" Lowe scowls.

_So loud…_ Kira's face shows no emotion as he continues to read through the OS readouts on his screen, only looking up when he hears a knock on the door frame.

"Uh…can we help you?" Asagi says uncertainly, seeing Blaze at the door.

"Maybe, maybe not." Blaze grins. "Kira! Your buddies are looking for you; not nice to just start working and not say anything, y'know?"

Kira doesn't even look up. "Oh, sorry."

Blaze sighs. "Does he always do this?" He asks the people behind him.

"Yep…Once he gets focused it's nearly impossible to drag him back out." Sai laughs. "Yo, Kira. You should've let us know if you're doing something like this."

"Sai!" Kira finally looked up. "Sorry, uh…"

"We know, we know." Sai waves it off. "So, have you decided?"

Kira frowns. "I haven't. I'm honestly not sure what to do."

"Decide what?" Lowe asks, looking at the SEED kids.

"Well, for him…" Sai ruffles Kira's hair. "He's picking between acting as an EFA pilot or jumping ship. For the rest of us…well, we go with him."

"Except Kuzzey." Tolle reminded him.

"Except Kuzzey." Sai agreed.

"Kuzzey left?" Kira asked.

Nobody was very surprised, since Kuzzey didn't have much of a presence in the story when Neil effectively took his spot.

"Yeah…I don't blame him though." Sai shook his head; he, like the rest of the SEED kids, has had trouble sleeping through the night recently (though none of them told each other).

"Well…" Kira got back on track. "I don't know." He didn't get back on track very well.

"You like doing stuff like this, right?" Asagi piped in, taking a peek at Kira's work. "I'm sure Morgenroete would hire you if you left the EFA."

"I don't think his job opportunities are what's bugging him." Blaze chuckled. "Kira, you can protect without fighting in the front lines too, you know? Don't feel compelled to stay in the army just because you can fly."

"Wh-" Kira stared at Blaze and realized that the man was smiling. "Oh, I see how it is." Kira grins. "You're afraid I'm going to be better than all four of you combined."

Blaze chuckled. "You'll be better than us once we retire for a few years, maybe."

"It's never too late to go back to being just a civilian, you know." Blaze said after a moment. "I mean, sure, your skills are top notch, but it's not like you owe the EFA anything."

"I…" Kira looked down at his screen. "I understand. I do believe, however, that my skills are best used on the battlefield."

"Well, as long as you're sure." Blaze shrugs.

_But on which side do I belong? _Kira couldn't help but think.

…

[ZAFT Carpentaria base, one week later]

…

The ZAFT Boys (minus Nicol) spent the previous half day organizing the rescue effort aimed at digging out people from underneath the rubble that used to be their base, before getting a transfer order that effectively said "let the lesser people handle it", but in more pleasant terms.

Instead, they were to be transferred and stationed at Carpentaria for the foreseeable future.

"Is it our punishment?" Dearka had asked with a (faked) heavy sigh.

"If it is, just be glad we're getting off so easily." Yzak said.

…

Against their expectations, their reception at Carpentaria base off of the coast of ZAFT controlled Australia was fairly pleasant with a fair amount of condolences on having lost their base due to (as the soldiers put it) command level incompetence.

Against their greatest expectations, Carpentaria was positively overflowing with activity, with hangars and barracks stuffed full of units and their respective pilots.

"Is Carpentaria this full all the time?" Yzak muttered as the three were shown to their quarters.

"Supposedly the higher-ups are planning some sort of offensive with all these units…not that any of us know where we're going." The aide leading them said.

_Probably Panama. _Athrun thought. _It's the only EFA base near here that would require such a huge influx of troops._

"Here we are." The aide led the three boys into a fairly spacious officer's lounge. Upon getting a quizzical look from Athrun, the aide shrugged. "Commander's orders. We give our aces special treatment."

Yzak chuckled with disbelief. "After our colossal failure we're still considered aces?" He said.

"Well…" The aide squirmed a little. "We all saw the video of the battle…and as far as us lowly soldiers are concerned, you all are aces for just coming home alive."

The three boys paused. "What video?" The Gundams, understandably, were not equipped with internet access.

…

[PLANT]

….

Nicol's father was not a happy man.

After all, since Rau Le Cruset himself came to his home (and heaven knows Cruset never made time for any sort of family ventures) it didn't take a genius to realize that he was the bearer of the worst kind of news.

Indeed, his poor wife had done nothing but cry her eyes out ever since Cruset broke the news to them: That Nicol was declared MIA, most likely dead.

While a small part of him held just a tiny, tiny shred of hope that maybe Nicol was rescued from the oceans before the elements claimed his son, his logical side maintained that there was no way for Nicol to be alive.

Either way, it led him directly to Patrick Zala's office, and to an interesting little project Patrick professed to be working on.

He didn't care. As long as the Naturals paid for every last drop of blood they shed.

…

[Orb]

…

Nicol, on the other hand, was alive and well (as much as one can be expected as a Prison of War) in Morgenroete.

"I can't believe I'm not even being locked up." Nicol said blandly.

"Well, Murrue doesn't consider you a risk." Talisman shrugged, having picked the short straw for guard duty. "Besides, if you try to run they'll shoot you dead."

The two were being tailed by a security detail of at least four armed guards.

"At least let me contact my parents." Nicol said calmly.

"And create an international incident? No thanks." Talisman laughed. "Kid, just go along for the ride. It's not like we're torturing you for information or anything."

Which was true: ever since Nicol regained consciousness in the hospital bay he was treated with a fair amount of neglect.

Nicol sighed. "And who are you, anyways? Why do your people hate you that much?"

Talisman laughed openly. "Hate me? I have the easiest job here!" He clapped Nicol on the shoulder, nearly putting the young boy on the ground. "See?" Talisman said with a cocky grin.

"Yeah, yeah." Nicol scowled despite himself…now he could see why Yzak placed his honor so highly above all else. "Wasn't Yzak captured by this ship before?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Yep. Whitey-locks busted himself out without too much hassle though." Talisman nods.

"And you just let him go?" Nicol stared at the man, this… 'Talisman'.

"We got the Duel back." Talisman shrugged. "The kid has potential, y'know? And…we, at least, don't like killing potential in the bud. There's always an after-war, after all."

Nicol blinked. Nobody in PLANT ever talked about an "after the war", as if the war against the Naturals is the natural thing to do. Part of it, at least, had something to do with maintaining the war effort.

"After the war?" Nicol asked.

"Yeah." Talisman grinned. "There's always a time where the two sides stop fighting, y'know? And hating each other for the hell of it isn't gonna make our lives any better."

Nicol looked thoughtful. "Then…can I walk around?"

"And talk to people?" Talisman asked, to which Nicol nods his agreement. "Well, sure…as long as you stay within your clearance level."

"Thanks." Nicol smiled.

"This is your big chance to see this PLANT from the outside, looking in." Talisman smiled as well.

…

…

[3 days later]

…

…

Asagi, Juri, and Mayura (yellow, blue, and red) marveled at the progress of the Astray OS.

It was really the only thing they can do, even as they experimented with it in the Morgenroete training grounds.

Kira Yamato smiled sheepishly as he heard the three lay their praises upon him for his superior work.

"Looks like they're all smitten with you." Erica Simmons said with a sly grin.

"Except Juri, she's got someone else in mind." Asagi laughed. "When do you plan to tell him?"

Juri, as expected, could only sputter in response.

Kira watched the Astrays perform some acrobatic maneuvers while lost in thought and only barely registered Erica tapping him on the shoulder.

"Got a minute?" She asked him.

…

…

"So what's this about?" Kira asked, upon seeing Lowe, Murrue, Natarle, and Mu in the same room.

"Well…" Erica pulled an image of a large, white flat something floating on the ocean on the main screen.

"Oh, is this the rumored Giga Float?" Mu asked with a wide smile.

"And the Giga Float is…?" Murrue looked to both him and Erica.

"The Giga Float is a roaming structure, housing the first civilian use orbital launching facility. In other words…it's the first and only Mass Driver not owned by either the EFA or ZAFT."

"Ok, so what does that have to do with us?" Natarle asked.

"Well, we've received a support request from the Giga Float crew; apparently their work progress is being hampered by attacks from an unknown party." Erica said. "Orb isn't the only neutral nation to respond, mind you, but we happen to be the closest."

"Well, I mean…we're Federation soldiers." Natarle said. "If Giga Float is neutral, then they didn't call for help from either the EFA or ZAFT, thus…we can't exactly help either."

"Truth be told, I just wanted your opinion." Erica chuckled. "Orb can't assist either, on account of the Astray project still in development, and we don't have the units or pilots to spare…the three girls back there are our best pilots right now, after all." She said with a knowing look at Kira.

_And they'll all die to a real enemy. _Kira thought with a scowl.

"Hey, not a problem." Lowe said, pointing to himself cockily with his thumb. "I got the Red, I'll go."

"Thank you, Lowe." Erica said with a smile.

"And I suppose you wanted to ask them to lend me?" Kira asked, still frowning.

"Exactly right, Mr. Yamato…you're still a Federation soldier, after all." Erica said.

"This goes against regulations." Natarle couldn't help but say.

"The fact that we're in Orb right now goes against every regulation." Murrue said lazily. "Kira, it's your call."

Kira nodded. "I've made my mind up already; Miss Simmons?"

Erica smiles. "You might've realized that you can't use an EFA suit for this mission." She sees Kira nod. "Great. We have an Astray supplied and ready to go; it's probably not as responsive as the Strike you're used to, and it lacks all the bells and whistles, but it should be more than adequate for this mission. If you have any armament requests, you should tell the mechanics now."

Kira nods, salutes, turns, and runs off.

"Motivated, isn't he?" Mu said with a cheerful grin.

"That kid's driven by the desire to protect others." Murrue frowned slightly. "I hope it doesn't come back to bite him."

…

[Morgenroete Hangar, one hour later]

…

The MBF-M1 Astray, Orb's new unit, is a lot like the Strike in terms of its build (no surprise, seeing as it was built from the G-Project data) but differs in that the armor is comparatively thinner and lighter, making it look thinner and taller. On the back of the Astray is an engine with comparable output to the Strike's normal engine and 4 built-in set of Vernier engines mounted on wing-like emitters, which, due to the Astray's lighter armor, gives it more mobility than the Strike (though not by much). Normally, an Astray is armed with a beam rifle, a pair of beam sabers, a shield with a prototype anti-beam coating, and head mounted Vulcans.

Low Guele's MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame, on the other hand, is a prototype unit much like the Strike. Compared to the mass production model, Lowe's Astray is stockier despite using the same armor plating and has extra components mounted on the arms, and the head is smaller and more mobile in its neck area. In lieu of a shield, Lowe's Astray was equipped with a pair of beam sabers, beam rifle, head mounted Vulcans, and a Mobile Suit sized Katana dubbed the "Gerbera Straight".

On the other hand…

"Seriously? Kira?" Lowe said, staring at the other unit, not knowing if he should be aroused or not.

Kira's Astray was equipped with a lifter module (which looked like scaled up versions of a Spearhead's VTOL engines taped onto the mobile suit's shoulders) and had also lost its shield. Instead, it carries four beam sabers (two on the back, two strapped to the wrists), two beam rifles mounted on the waist, and a pair of bazookas, and, of course, the head mounted Vulcans.

"I wanted to be prepared." Kira said innocently.

"Prepared…you look like you're ready to start a war!" Lowe said, astonished.

"It happens, ok?" Kira grinned, though nobody could see him.

"Sheesh." Lowe shook his head, and then heard the launcher counter go off. "Lowe, Astray Red, go!" His Astray is then pulled by the catapult and shot into the sky.

"Kira Yamato, Astray, launching!" Kira's Astray wobbled slightly on account of its slightly oversized wings once he took to the air.

…

"I'm very glad those wings cleared the hangar walls." One engineer said, to the general agreement of his peers.

…

"Something interesting going on?" Cipher asked once he saw Blaze watch what looks like a tactical screen.

"The kid's off on a mission." Blaze responded, his face a mask.

"Kira is? Who's the other guy?" Cipher asked upon seeing two dots on the screen.

"A friend of his, I guess? I don't think they know each other very well." Blaze shrugged. "They're heading off to some offshore facility."

_Offshore…Giga Float? _Cipher thought. For whatever reason the name Giga Float made him feel uneasy. "Well, if it's Kira, he should be fine; the boy improves so fast it's frightening."

"Still not as fast as us though." Blaze said offhandedly.

"Right, right." Cipher grinned, and then looked at him seriously. "Can I borrow you for a minute? We got some people we need to talk to."

"What kind of people?" Blaze said, not moving an inch.

"Our kind of people." Cipher said as he walked out the door.

Blaze stared at where Cipher was, cursed, then jumped up and followed him.

…

…

[Carpentaria]

…

…

The past three days haven't been easy for the ZAFT boys.

Given their status as 'aces' (a title accepted only dubiously by a majority of the base staff) the three kids were told to train the newbies at the base (of which there was quite a few).

In fact, Yzak wasn't sure if there were any experienced pilots at the base to begin with.

Regardless, the stint as a teacher helped ensure their status as Aces in the eyes of their compatriots, and also helped their own piloting skills (especially Athrun and Dearka, as they had become a little lazy with their defense due to the phase shift armor they had).

Lastly, it helped catapult Yzak to an almost godlike status among his peers (or so the rookies claim).

Yzak and Athrun sparred in training DINNs very often (as a means of collecting data for the rookies to use) and Yzak was almost always the victor.

"Doesn't surprise me." Athrun said with a shrug when a rookie asked him about their skill levels. "Yzak was always the better pilot at school, but his temper would get to him and he'd make fundamental mistakes…now that his anger issue is gone, he's as good as he should be."

"Still not as good as me though." Dearka said with a smooth grin.

Dearka scored more victories against Yzak than Athrun did, largely by sniping at Yzak regardless of what he would do.

"And that's why we work together." Yzak bopped Dearka on the head good-naturedly.

"Sir Jule!" The Rookie said, snapping to attention.

"Yzak is fine. What is it?" Yzak waved the rookie's terror away (or at least tried to; his constant scowl made him a bit unapproachable at all times).

"Uh, Sir Yzak. Would we be able to fight those demons as we are now?" The rookie asked.

"No." Yzak's face showed just a brief flicker of anger. "They are not to be underestimated."

"Even though they're flying Spearheads?" The rookie asked.

"Especially since they're flying Spearheads." Yzak corrected him. "It's only a matter of time before the EFA puts those guys on the top of the new requisitions list. Imagine how terrifying they would be if every one of them had one of those EFA prototypes."

The only thing that scared the ZAFT rookies more than the Aces of Strangereal was the Strike.

"I don't want to think about it." The rookie shuddered. "I understand. In the event that we face the demons…"

"If you can run, run. If you can't, call up reinforcements and hope for the best." Dearka repeated what Yzak has said many times with a sigh. "You're putting them on too high of a pedestal, Yzak."

"You think so?" Yzak looked at his best friend. "I can't help but feel like those guys still have some untapped potential, and it scares me."

"They killed a battalion of DINNs with four Mobile Armors, of course we're scared of them." Athrun said.

…

…

…

[Gigafloat, 1400 hours, 2 PM]

…

…

…

Kira Yamato whistled. "Whoa, look at the size of that thing."

"This is even bigger than I thought." Lowe's respect for the builders was interrupted by an incoming message. "Ah…this is Lowe, who is"

The rest of his sentence was cut off by a girl's shriek. "Lowe! Where the hell have you been?! We were so worried about you!"

"Ah…Yamabuki!" Lowe said happily. "So this is where you all went!"

Kira could hear the anger boiling over on the other side of the line and render the poor girl unable to speak.

Lowe, blessedly, could not. "Does that mean the Professor is there too?"

"Yep, we're all here." The Professor, a beautiful woman with long dark red hair said. "The EFA hired the Junk Guild to help build this thing, and that's why we're here."

"Even after falling from orbit?" Lowe asked incredulously.

"Falling from orbit?" Kira wasn't sure if he heard right.

"Yep. Well, the Home is trashed as a result." The Professor said, gently nudging the girl known as Yamabuki away from the console before the poor girl popped a vein. "But the rest of us are totally fine."

"It's not trashed…it just needs a refurbishing or so." A man said, offended.

"Friends of yours?" Kira asked Lowe.

"Yep, they might as well be my family." Lowe said with a sheepish grin.

"How touching." The Professor cooed, much to Lowe's embarrassment.

"We consider you family too, Lowe." The man said with a laugh.

"Yeah, uh…" Lowe scratched his face nervously, "Can we land now? Or are we worried about enemies showing up real soon?"

"What enemies?" The Professor asked.

Kira scowled. "What? Orb said that it received a reinforcement request from the Giga Float…"

"Well, I don't know if the organizers sent a request, but we sure didn't hear about any enemies…" The girl, Yamabuki, said, having finally calmed down enough to be allowed near the radio again.

"That's because I sent the request." A new man's voice came on the line.

"Gai! Why are you here?!" Lowe demanded.

"It's my job." Murakumo Gai said, with an audible shrug (even if the man himself didn't do any shrugging).

"Er, actually, where are you, anyways?" Lowe asked, looking around and seeing no sign of Gai's Blue Astray.

Kira felt a tingle run down his spine, and unhooked a beam rifle.

"Eh? Kira? You ok?" Lowe asked upon seeing Kira's Astray turn and look all around him.

"Yeah…" Kira muttered, not paying Lowe any attention.

…

Underwater, a young man dressed in a really over-the-top, extravagant black cloak smiled. "I see…looks like Orb isn't nearly as disconnected as we were led to believe."

"Is it time yet, boss?" One of his henchmen asked.

"Stay put for the time being. We are, after all, in no real hurry." The young man said coolly.

…

Kira and Lowe were allowed to land on the Giga Float after flying around rather aimlessly for a good ten minutes.

Upon exiting his Astray, Kira heard a girl practically scream Lowe's name before turning around to see said girl nearly crash into Lowe.

Once Kira put his feet on the ground, a red haired woman in a white lab coat walked up to him.

"Ah…are you a friend of Lowe's?" The woman asked with a polite smile.

"Yes he is, Professor!" Lowe yelled over his shoulder, while the girl in question ranted on in front of him.

The woman known as the Professor chuckled.

"Professor?" Kira asked, wondering why the woman doesn't give her name.

"Yep, that's me." The Professor said. "And you are…?"

"Uh, Kira Yamato. Pleased to meet you, Professor." Kira said with a polite bow. Because he wasn't looking, he missed the minor twitch the Professor had when he said his name.

_Yamato, huh… _The Professor mused."Well, Kira, thank you for coming to the Giga Float's defense, as…oddly organized as it may be. Are you an Orb pilot?"

Kira shook his head. "I'm a Morgenroete engineer." While that's not technically true he figured the truth of "EFA pilot" was less than ideal in the current circumstances.

"Seriously?" The rust-red haired girl who was talking to Lowe said, immediately forgetting about Lowe for the moment. "I didn't think Orb's Astray project got this far."

"Hey, they got data from me." Lowe said with a cocky jerk of the thumb to himself. "Of course they would've gotten super far!"

"More like they got the data from Hachi." The girl grumbled.

"Who's Hachi?" Kira asked.

"Oh, you haven't met him yet. Hang on." Lowe jumped back into his cockpit and came out with a briefcase with a screen on it.

"Uh…hi?" Kira guesses that the briefcase is Hachi.

"Hello to you, too." The briefcase says back, in a rather boyish voice.

Kira blinks. "Whoa, he talks?"

"Of course! He's my partner in crime." Lowe grins, patting the briefcase.

"I'm responsible for keeping Lowe alive." The computer says.

"Truer words have never been spoken." The girl nods. "Hello, I'm Kisato Yamabuki, his friend."

Kira guesses from the fact that she nearly spat the last word out she's not exactly happy that they're just friends. He also refrained from staring at the girl and her rather odd choice of clothing, namely, at the utterly tiny tank top and jacket that fully exposes her navel for all to see.

"Uh, hello." Kira nods with a small smile.

"So what happened to the Home?" Lowe asks, looking at the professor.

"Nothing overly special. We dropped near here and the Giga Float fished us up." The Professor sighed.

"More like we crashed into the Giga Float. It's a wonder we didn't die from it." A young man with long, black hair said. "Yo, Lowe."

"Liam! How've you been?" Lowe grinned and clapped the man on the back.

"So…" Liam's face turned grim. "Why is Giga Float worried about an attack?"

…

[Orb]

…

"Ah, Aces! Please to meet you!" A grizzled man said with a wide grin and a booming laugh. "It is an honor, yes?"

"You give us far too much credit." Cipher laughed. "I didn't think Gründer would have a facility in Orb."

"Best place to do business!" The Gründer mechanic said. "The Feds don't want our planes and ZAFT are little bastards."

"Is that why we're here then? To do some business?" Blaze looked around the hangar they were being led through: A lot of planes were being assembled in the hangar with a combination of mechanics and large, foreign-looking robotic machinery.

"You'll see. Our boss does the talking, I do the building." The mechanic led the two Aces to a small room near the hangar exit.

"You must be the Aces our African branch told us about." A man dressed in a sharp black suit said, shaking Cipher and Blaze's hand in turn. "It's an honor to meet the legendary Aces from our homeland, even if we were on opposite sides." He motioned for the two aces to take a seat.

Cipher nods. "Right…so what are we here for?" He asks after sitting down.

The Gründer representative sat on his side of the table and rested his chin on his folded hands. "I'll get down to business then. Gründer is a business, and a business is no good without customers. Both the EFA and ZAFT have driven their war engines with their own units, and as a result we can't easily dig into the market as we once hoped to do."

"So you want us to fly your planes?" Blaze asked.

"Yes and no." The representative looked at Blaze. "I know how good you guys are…your reputations are well deserved, and having our planes with such spectacular results will definitely drive salves, however, the problem is that if your wing flies our fighters in an EFA ship, well…"

"We drag Orb into a political scandal large enough to drag them into the war." Cipher finishes for him.

"Exactly."

"So what do you want?" Blaze asked.

"Well…in the best scenarios, I want the four of you on Gründer's payroll." The representative says with a noncommittal shrug. "But I know you guys won't do that."

"Not easily, anyway." Cipher said, and then saw Blaze look at him. "What?"

"You're not thinking of defecting just for a bigger paycheck, are you?" Blaze asked him with narrowed eyes.

"Did you forget, Blaze? I'm a mercenary at heart." Cipher grinned. "Well, that being said, it'll need to be a hell of a paycheck to get me to change sides though."

"And our bosses won't give me enough money for that…not immediately, anyways." The representative agreed sadly. "So I'll settle for plan B: I want your help in rolling out our planned flagship fighter."

"Even though we're attached to the EFA?" Blaze asked the man.

"The EFA is…very easily swayed, as long as ZAFT isn't involved, so long as their reputation isn't visibly tarnished." The representative said with a note of anger in his voice.

"You don't like it?" Cipher was slightly surprised.

"As a businessman, it certainly makes my job easier." The man said. "But as a true Belkan, their disdain for their own values disgusts me." He shakes his head.

"Plus we're not exactly high on the EFA's friends list." Blaze muttered. "If memory serves they still think we're coordinators."

"Do they?" The man said, surprised. "That's a little different from what he said." He mutters to himself.

_He? _"So if we agree to work with Gründer…" Cipher asked.

"We'll send a Gründer work team along with you, along with the development prototype."

"So we can't fly it?" Blaze grumbled.

"Gründer has a reputation to uphold…we won't deploy a fighter that's currently still being tuned, after all." The representative shrugged.

"Sounds all fine and good, but…" Cipher frowned.

"A little money goes a long way." The representative reminded him. "Besides, the EFA's intercontinental connections are horrible. They won't know for a long time anyways."

"Well…it sounds like it benefits you more than it does us." Blaze said.

"I'll let you in on a little secret." The man said, leaning forward a little. "The EFA has been sponsoring a drug company in Eurasia lately. Said company went under a few years ago for making illegal stimulants that killed a lot of its users."

"How do you know this?" Cipher scowled.

"We have contacts all over the world; setting up an information web was one of the first things we did." The representative shrugged. "The point is I don't believe you gentlemen would benefit a whole lot by sticking with the EFA until the bitter end, and by doing this we'll take the heat if you guys ever decide to defect."

"Shouldn't you be contacting the ship captain for this? I think moving more crew onto the ship is her pejorative, not ours."

"Oh, don't worry. We have people for that." The man waves Blaze's comment away.

_What is that supposed to mean? _Blaze's thoughts were interrupted by a call from his phone.

"Blaze here, what is it?" The Four Aces decided to each get a phone yesterday.

"Are you near a television?" Ribbon's voice came over the line.

"We need a TV." Blaze said to the representative, scowling. Something in Ribbon's voice put him on edge.

The representative stood up quickly. "This way." He led everyone out of the room.

…

While the war was between the EFA and ZAFT, the fact remained that not all of the nations on Earth belong to the EFA (Orb being the most prominent example) and thus not all of the satellites around Earth were destroyed.

Satellite TV, at the very least, was still a luxury the world could enjoy.

"We bring you this video live from the-" Blaze heard the announcer say before an explosion overpowered his voice.

"Holy shit, Ribbon." Blaze said, watching with Cipher and the representative.

"I know." Ribbon, on the other hand, watched it from the Morgenroete facility along with some dock workers.

"Those guys have gone insane, the world has gone insane!" Natarle exclaimed, looking for something to bang her head on.

…

[Giga Float]

…

"The hell?" Lowe looked up from his food, hearing the alarm go off.

"I guess we're getting what we came for." Kira said, before shoveling food down his mouth.

"Your sense of urgency is a little odd." Lowe wanted to ask whether if Kira felt the need to abandon his food and run off, like how Lowe is feeling right now.

"If they wanted to destroy the Giga Float they would've done it with cruise missiles" Kira said after he had finished shoveling food down his mouth. "No amount of panicking will make us fight better."

Lowe shook his head. "Man, Fed pilots are weird."

"We? Who else did you meet?" Kira asked as the two ran off to the Hangar.

…

[Carpentaria]

…

Athrun walked into the break room on the base, and found the atmosphere to be far too quiet.

"What's going on, guys?" Athrun asked, before noticing that everyone was focused on the TV.

"Athrun, the Naturals have gone insane." Dearka said with a hollow laugh.

Athrun read the tagline on the bottom of the screen: EFA DECLARES WAR ON EQUATORIAL UNION.

"That's not the worst part. Look." Yzak pointed to the action being shown on the screen.

Athrun gritted his teeth as the television showed the EFA Spearheads dropped bombs indiscriminately over the skylines of a major city. _Are these the people you're trying to protect? Kira!_

…

…

…

{ === + === }

I guess this would be the first major deviation in the plot, EFA suddenly annexing more territory.


	14. Stage 12 - Operation

[PLANT]

…

Patrick Zala viewed the news with unbridled glee. How wonderful it was that the Naturals, when faced with an overwhelming force like ZAFT, decide to fight among themselves further!

Rau Le Cruset, on the other hand, viewed the news with something more akin to apprehension: the actions of the EFA made no sense to him this time, and he cannot simply dismiss it as Naturals being stupid…especially not after the presence of the Demons of the Federation.

The chess game the two played lie abandoned on the table while both of them were transfixed with the news.

The rest of ZAFT watched the news with a mix of curiosity, glee, and a vehement hatred for the Naturals who decided to attack a neutral nation with zero provocation.

…

[Giga Float]

…

"Lowe, enemy signatures detected." Hachi, Lowe's computer buddy, said. "Their heat signatures match the EFA Spearhead engines."

"Spearheads?" Lowe raised an eyebrow. "Is the EFA trying to trash their own investment?"

By virtue of not having in-cockpit internet access neither he nor Kira knew of the EFA's attack on the Equatorial Union yet.

"I don't think so." Kira said, peering at his visual camera. "Their paintjob is off."

"Paintjob? Really?" Lowe asked, looking through his camera as well. "How can you tell from here?"

On the cameras, the Spearheads were a little more than a figurine on a table.

"It just feels weird…their cross section doesn't match either; It's too bulky." Kira powered up his Astray, noting with a fair amount of discomfort at the smaller energy tank readout compared to the Strike.

"But if all we're up against is Spearheads then we don't have a lot to worry about." Lowe said confidently. "Professor, can you issue a warning against them?"

"I'm trying, but they're refusing all hails." The Professor's shrug was audible.

"Let me try." Kira switched his communications to a general channel and turned on the Astray's speakers. "This is the Giga Float Defense Squadron to unknown crafts in our airspace: identify your intentions or you will be shot down. I repeat, identify your intentions or you _will_ be shot down."

The Spearheads in the distance responded by dropping something from their underbellies.

After a few seconds, Kira heard a repeating beep in his cockpit. "Well, I guess I know how they feel about this." He sighs.

The long range missiles from the Spearheads fly straight and false, since they were summarily shot down by a barrage of fire from Kira's beam rifles.

"I didn't they'd fly here just to take a vacation." Lowe's Astray surges forward with its beam rifle drawn, spraying fire into the air a little ineffectually.

The Spearheads, against Kira's expectations, continued to fly in formation in spite of Lowe's fairly poor shooting. He looked confused for a moment, scratched his head, and then aimed his arm-mounted beam rifles against the Spearheads with a shake of his head.

…

The six Spearheads flying toward the Giga Float saw the first barrage of beam rifle fire fly ineffectually toward them and then hit pretty much nothing.

"Captain, what's the plan?" One of the pilots asked, watching the second Astray cautiously.

"Follow the data, and strike the Giga Float's mass driver." The captain replied. "As expected, he really can't hit anything at all." He muttered snidely to himself.

Whatever other self-confident assertions he was about to make was cut short by his entire squad being shot down by a pin-point accurate strike from Kira's Astray.

…

Lowe whistled. "Wow, you're a really good shot."

"You're just really bad." Hachi said without skipping a beat. Lowe bopped the little computer lightly on its frame.

"These guys weren't very good." Kira muttered to himself, scanning his radar display for any potential enemy units. "So that can't possibly be all of them."

…

A man dressed in expensive-looking black clothes regarded the loss of contact with his Spearhead squadron with something akin to surprise.

"Sir, what are your orders?"

He closes his eyes and thinks for a moment. "All units retreat. We'll take the Giga Float another time…I'm interested to know who the perpetrator is, however."

…

"New contact incoming!" Hachi suddenly said.

"Is it him?!" Lowe snarled, looking toward the direction as indicated by his threat receiver.

Kira looked toward the same direction as well, and saw the target of Lowe's sudden interest. "A gold colored Astray?" he muttered. "Must be really damn rich to get plating like that." He then noted with a scowl that the armor of the Astray changed color in several areas, a sure sign of the Phase Shift Armor, and that it also had a bulky waist mounted system that implies a large scale weapon of some kind.

"Kira! Don't underestimate him!" Lowe said as he flew into the air.

"Oh, it's you again." The Gold Astray's pilot said dismissively. "I'm not here for you."

Kira saw the Golden Astray dive toward him.

"Damn, he's fast!" Lowe said, his beam rifle shots uselessly trailing behind his target.

_He's fast, but…_ Kira felt almost bored by the Golden Astray coming at him. _He's too easy to read._

…

The Gold Astray's pilot blinked in surprise as his target fired upon him with its head mounted Vulcans.

"You have good senses." The pilot said over the general line.

He heard the pilot of the Red Astray in the air yell over the same line. "Kira! Get out of there!" _Kira? Is that the name of the pilot in front of me?_

Kira smirked despite himself. All his time of practicing with Cipher had caused the older pilot's confidence to rub off on him…a confidence that was far from unfounded.

The pilot of the Gold Astray flinched when his damage control suddenly registered two hits to his unit. _How in the…? _He looked down despite himself and saw two beam sabers lodged into his waist mounted harpoon launchers. He looked up just in time to see the Astray charge at him with two more beam sabers activated.

Kira swings at the Gold Astray and misses as the Gold frame uses it's remarkably thrusters to jump out of the way, causing Kira's Astray to land behind him.

The Gold Frame's pilot then felt a jolt as Kira's Astray kicked him in the back with a fast spinning roundhouse kick.

…

"He's way better than you are." Hachi said snidely.

"No kidding. That guy is insane." Lowe said through a wide grin.

…

"How?!" The Gold Frame's pilot snarled, using his thrusters to get some more distance before pulling out his beam rifle.

"Surely, you're fast. Faster than any unit I've gone up against. But…" He heard Kira's voice over the general line as the Astray charged at him again. "You're not as flexible as he is."

The Gold frame turned to aim its beam rifle and saw Kira's Astray almost on top of him.

Kira accelerated to maximum speed and cut off the Gold Astray's left leg from the knee, and then slams the Gold Astray into the ground with a kick.

"And not nearly as savage as they are." Kira muttered to himself, turning and pelting the Gold Astray with beam rifle fire.

"Tch. I'll get you for this." The Gold Astray's pilot snarled, firing into the Giga Float and causing things to explode, covering his unit with a screen of smoke and fire.

…

"Did you know who that was?" Kira asked Lowe once the smoke cleared and the Gold Frame was nowhere to be seen…though he felt that the pilot wasn't the type to surrender even if the unit was disabled, so he wasn't too torn up about letting the guy go.

"Ronald Gina Sahaku." Lowe said in reply. "We fought in space and he kicked our asses."

"It's Rondo Gina Sahaku; he forced us to the Earth." Hachi added helpfully.

"I see…" Kira had no idea who it was, but a small part of him was certain that the person would be important in the future.

"Lowe, Kira. You guys should see this." The Professor said, and forwarded a news feed to their cockpits.

…

…

"Is this for real? Are they for real?! What the hell are they thinking?!" Mu La Flaga raged against nobody in particular, rampaging around a Morgenroete lounge.

"Maybe…maybe it's just a small faction." Natarle said hopefully.

"Small?! _Small?!_" Mu gestured to the television screen. "Does that look small to you?!"

"That" being a televised full out assault of a city in the Equatorial Union with a battalion of Spearheads visible.

"Calm down." Murrue bopped Mu on the head.

"Sorry." Mu said sheepishly. "So what's our plan?"

"Nothing." Murrue said very matter-of-factly. "The Archangel is still in dry-dock for another week, and I don't feel like being assigned to bomb civilians the instant I leave port."

"Captain, that means we're going to leave civilians unprotected…even if they don't belong to the Federation." Natarle frowned. Her sense of military duty and military honor were fighting with each other in her head.

Murrue sighed. "I know, but right now we can't do anything without stirring up an even bigger mess."

...

…

Kira Yamato returned to Orb a day later (Lowe stayed behind to be with his Junk Guild family) and traded information with his friends. If nothing else, this event greatly shook his already faltering confidence in the Earth Federation.

The fact that the three heads of their current ship (Murrue Ramius, Natarle Badgiruel, and Mu la Flaga) were nowhere to be seen for the better part of the day didn't do his mood any favors.

…

"Who are you?" Kira asked with a frown, seeing a young boy with light green hair he didn't recognize.

"Ah, uh." The young boy looked around shiftily for a moment. "Nicol Amalfi."

Nicol believed that there wasn't any danger from using his real name; nobody on Earth knew him anyways. His confidence was a little misplaced.

Kira's eyebrow shot up. "Amalfi? You're Yuri Amalfi's son?"

Nicol felt his heart sank, but the boy before him reminded him a bit of Athrun. "What makes you think that?"

Kira smiled. "I'm an engineering student; he cost me a lot in textbooks."

Nicol couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, that tends to happen; hope your wallet feels better in the future."

Kira's smile faded a bit. "But that would make you a ZAFT soldier. What are you doing here?"

Nicol's grin faded as well. "I uh…I was fished out of the ocean."

Kira gave no physical response. "Oh…so I guess you were in the Blitz when I took it down. How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine…at least I'm not on the bottom of the ocean." Nicol chuckled halfheartedly.

Kira frowned. "What do you think of…well, us?"

Nicol didn't have to ask what he meant. "I think…" He shook his head. "No, I know that most Naturals are not ok with this." Nicol has seen the reaction around Morgenroete to the attack, after all.

Kira sighed. "Makes the two of us." An uncharacteristic hatred burned in his eyes. "I don't know who or why they did this but if I get my hands on them…"

"Whoa there, kid." Kira felt a pair of hands descend on his shoulders. "You won't get anywhere with that kind of mood." Blaze said behind him.

"You're not gonna tell me to master my rage, are you?" Kira asked tiredly.

"What? No." Blaze grinned. "Just that with great power comes great responsibility."

Nicol and Kira both sighed while Blaze grinned wider.

"What do you think about this?" Kira asked Blaze after he recovered from the horrible quote.

"That?" Blaze jerked his head toward the television, getting a nod from Kira in response. "I think something's real fishy here."

"Oh, really?" Nicol asked sarcastically; he just can't bring himself to be on guard against Blaze.

"Yep, really." Blaze's grin slid off his face. "Eurasia has always been more anti-Coordinator than the Atlantic branch, so for them to suddenly turn on their fellow Naturals is very, very odd…nonsensical, in fact."

"Really?" Nicol blinked in surprise.

"Yeah. Eurasia has all the bigots and Atlantic has all the failures." Blaze grinned widely. "It's a wonder they work together at all."

…

…

…

"I thought you said they worked together." Kira said to Blaze glumly.

"Well. They used to." Blaze scowled.

The two of them watched the Atlantic Federation denounce the Eurasian branch for "unethical treatment of civilians during war time."

"What do you think?" Cipher said to the room at large.

"I think they're still nuts." An engineer grumbled from somewhere in the back, to the general agreement of everyone else.

"Think someone else is behind this?" Talisman asked Captain Bartlett in an undertone.

"My first guess? It's Blue Cosmos…but for all their idiotic hatred they would never attack Naturals unprovoked." Bartlett grunted. "Something is really wrong here."

The room watched as the Atlantic branch of the Federation declared their intention to support the Equatorial Union against this "brazen act of violence."

…

Cipher noted grimly after the speech that no promise of actual military assistance was given to the Equatorial Union. He wondered for a moment how the Atlantic Federation actually planned to help the EU.

"So what is Orb going to do after this?" Murrue asked Erica Simmons, Morgenroete's chief engineer.

"Do? Who knows?" Erica shrugs. "Knowing Uzumi he's probably going to sit back and prepare."

Murrue turns with a frown on her face. "Prepare?"

Erica smiles slyly. "Who do you think pays for Morgenroete's Astrays?"

…

In one of the Morgenroete hangars, the three mechanics under Erica (Juri, Asagi, Mayura) stared at the data Kira's Astray provided along with its maintenance estimates.

"How did he burn out almost every motor in five minutes?!" Asagi (the blonde one) yelled as she violently tugged at her hair.

Juri (blue haired with glasses) could only stare numbly at the Astray currently sitting in the dock; its pristine appearance masking the fact that literally every joint in its body is screwed beyond all reason.

"I guess we should ask Erica for a full upgrade for the Astray." Mayura (red haired) sighed, before noticing that Asagi was charging out of the room. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Stuff!" Asagi yelled back, already out of the hangar.

…

"KIIIIRAAAA!"

Kira Yamato froze and instinctively felt the desire to run away screaming, while his friends turned to see a very angry Asagi charging at him.

"What did you do, Kira?" Sai asked hesitantly.

"Maybe they were dating?" Miriallia said meekly…meekly and hopefully, in fact.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY ASTRAY?!" Asagi roared once she got within optimal shouting range.

"So much for that." Miriallia sighed.

"Well, I, uh…" Kira took a few steps back as Asagi charged forward and grabbed him by the collar. "I…broke the limiter on them?"

Asagi's rage evaporated almost immediately. "Limiter? Why would you do that? How did you do that?"

Kira felt more unnerved by the sudden attitude change than her anger. "Uh…while flying towards the Giga Float I felt like the Astray couldn't handle the same joint stress as the Strike, so I messed with its OS so that I could—" He stopped short once he saw Asagi get angry again.

"Thanks to you we have to overhaul that entire unit!" Asagi wailed. "My day off! My glorious! Glorious day off!"

Kira watched her melodramatically complain about her lost vacation time and lack of overtime pay as she tottered back to the hangar.

"You broke an entire unit in five minutes? Must be a new record." Blaze said with a nervous chuckle.

"I…I didn't mean it?" Kira said, still in a bit of a daze.

…

[ZAFT base Carpentaria, 2 days later]

…

Athrun stopped to watch a television screen set in a hallway next to one of the hangars, barely listening to the reporter's coverage of Federation aid transports arriving in the Equatorial Union territory of Fiji. A small part of him registered that the transports were a lot bigger than he thought they were.

Carpentaria had received orders almost immediately after the Eurasia's attack to prepare for a possible invasion staged on the territory of Australia, and the Cruset team members (sans Cruset himself, since the man was still in space) were kept busy training a lot of rookie pilots being ferried to the base.

Speaking of the Cruset team…due to Rau Le Cruset not being available to lead, the ZAFT boys were temporarily reassigned.

"Captain Athrun, sir!" Athrun turned at the mention of his name.

"What is it?" Athrun Zala, the brand new captain of the Sable Squadron, asked.

"Uh, the base commander wants you to be at Hangar Seven in fifteen minutes." The messenger said with a salute.

Athrun resisted the urge to curse. "Alright, thanks."

The messenger salutes again and hurries down the near-empty hallway.

Yzak, the captain of the Scorpio Squadron, patted him on the back. "Is all this getting to you, oh mister captain?"

Athrun brushed him off, but is smiling all the same. "I didn't think I would become a full officer so soon."

"None of us did." Dearka grinned, his rank insignia denoting his promotion as the Falcon squadron captain. "And it sucks!" He laughs.

"You said it." Athrun shakes his head good-naturedly. "I'm really starting to appreciate just how much suffering our instructors went through."

"I just remember them yelling." Yzak grumbles. "A lot of yelling and telling me to keep my distance."

"Yeah…I thought you were getting arrested when I first heard them say that." Dearka then noticed the girl trailing behind Yzak. "Who's the babe?"

"My lieutenant." Yzak said simply.

"Shiho Hahnenfuss, Sir." Shiho salutes, which Dearka returns a little hesitantly. "I act as Captain Jule's range support."

"I've been replaced by a pretty girl." Dearka said matter-of-factly. "How long ago did you want to do this?"

"I can't exactly tell high command to shove it." Yzak says very dispassionately.

"So ever since you knew she existed." Dearka sighed theatrically.

"So are we looking at the beginning of a beautiful relationship, or…" Athrun said teasingly, looking between Shiho and Yzak.

Neither of them gave any outward signs of being affected by that statement.

"Damn." Athrun snaps his fingers.

"Your expectations were too high, Athrun…it's Yzak we're talking about." Dearka shakes his head. "So what are we all piloting?"

"Two CGUEs, two Fast GINNs." Yzak said; Fast GINNs being the ZAFT common name for the GINN High Mobility type.

"Two of them? For you and her?" Dearka's grin was visible from space.

"Yeah." Yzak pointly ignored his intentions.

"Huh." Dearka deflated a little. "My Buster's restricted to the base; they're reverse engineering the hell out of it. So I'm stuck with a DINN squad instead."

"You too, huh?" Athrun glanced at his blonde-haired coffee-skinned friend. "They're stripping down the Aegis as well; Carpentaria doesn't have the parts to maintain them if we don't. I got a CGUE for a DINN squad."

"So we're all in the air then." Yzak smiled for a brief moment. "Do you guys think the EFA will come here after trashing the EU?" EU being the Equatorial Union.

Athrun shakes his head. "I doubt it; if they wanted to hit Carpentaria they would've done it already. We're not that far from Eurasia mainland, after all."

"Blue Cosmos went insane? Maybe?" Dearka said hopefully.

"Do you think this has anything to do with the Demons?" Yzak asked.

"If there are other elements like them in the EFA, maybe." Athrun looked around the base. "We're all kinds of screwed if there are others like them in the EFA, actually." He shuddered at the thought of the rookie pilots (many his age or older) facing the demons, and found himself praying that the demons would exercise their mercy and not kill them.

"Oh, that reminds me. Did you guys see the Africa battle report?" Dearka turns to face the other two.

"The Red Swallow, right?" Athrun said, referring to the emblem featuring a red swallow on a few ZAFT-affiliated aircraft.

Yzak thought back to the aircrafts he saw a few times in the battle, but didn't say anything.

Dearka nods. "They blew through the EFA and didn't break a sweat. Does that sound familiar to anyone?"

…

[Morgenroete, 3 days later]

…

Kira Yamato, while visiting the Archangel, caught a fighter being rolled into its hangar bay by a group of people he's never seen before.

"What's this?" Kira asked Murdoch, who was standing by and watching the fighter with a mix of disgust and desire along with a small gaggle of people.

"Murrue accepted help from some company in Orb." Murdoch said, trying valiantly (and failing) to mask his child-like glee with a coat of bile and distrust. "They're moving some gear into the Hangar."

"Oh, isn't that an XFA?" Cipher said happily, coming over to see what all the fuss was about. "Are we flying XFAs now?"

"I wish." Blaze said sadly, coming out of the gaggle of engineers and hangar crew. "That's just one of their work pieces…we get to give data to a pair of skeletons."

"A pair?" Murdoch looked around wildly. "Where's the other one?"

"It should be…ah ha, there it is." Cipher said, looking at the frame of an aircraft he didn't recognize.

"Oh holy shit seriously?" Talisman said almost immediately after arriving on the scene and then proceeded to nearly dissolve into a puddle of happiness. "It's a CFA. Is it flyable? Please tell me that thing is flyable."

Kira took a closer look at the "CFA": It was very angular compared to the Spearhead, even when it was obviously in no condition to fly. The entire aircraft looked like a Christmas tree from where he's standing, actually.

"Is that thing good?" Kira asks Talisman.

Talisman was beside himself with happiness. "Good? I had wet dreams about flying one of these." He took a deep breath to calm himself. "These things are the best fighters we could field at home…well, if we had one to field, that is; last I checked Estovakia was the only nation that had them."

Kira looked at the chassis that was the CFA-44 as it vanished into the Archangel. "I think I would've liked it better if they had sent us working aircraft instead."

"Yeah, I do too." Blaze nodded. "But there would be lot of issues that'll come up if we fly aircraft made by a company in Orb, so we have to make do with what we've got."

What they have, all four pilots reflected, are a set of Spearheads held together by an odd mix of terrific engineering and rush repair induced prayer.

…

"Thank you for accepting our proposal." The representative from Gründer said with a gracious bow. "With the way the world is now we need all the friends we can get."

Murrue smiled slightly. "Ah, yes, indeed…I should be thanking Gründer for giving us these resources, actually; this will help greatly in our battles ahead."

The Archangel was due to launch in six hours or so; the repairs were almost done.

The representative waved dismissively. "Please, for us, being able to service and assist the Aces of Aces is one of the greatest honors. The Project Aces works team won't disappoint you; feel free to task them as you see fit."

"Project Aces? Sounds like a videogame." Mu said with a laugh.

The Representative laughed. "It does, doesn't it? The Engineers wanted it to be known that they're the ones responsible for keeping the legendary pilots in the air."

"Legendary?" Mu frowned. He knew that the Razgriz was good but didn't expect them to actually be _that _good.

"You didn't know?" The representative sounded surprised, and saw Mu shake his head. "Pull up a chair, this'll take a while."

…

[Somewhere in Eurasia, one day later]

…

In a velvet-covered room, two men sat watching a myriad of screens, especially one that contained a blonde-haired man in a blue suit denouncing the Eurasian army for their bloodthirsty actions.

"Who'd thought Azrael of all people would've turned against them." One man said with a tone of bemusement.

"When his own dick length isn't under examination he can be quite intuitive." The other man said gruffly.

"So what do you think this will cause?" The first man asked.

"It'll cause us to move another step forward." The second man said, with a tone of "we've talked about this before."

"Just curious." The first man chuckled lightly. "How goes the 'relief effort'?"

"Thanks to everyone else sitting on their asses, we're about done…just a few days and then we can set up our 'field hospitals'. We might end up worrying about ZAFT though, especially if they decide to gate crash before we get everything set up." The man takes a swig of his wine glass.

"ZAFT…so they're going to be conducting an operation after all." The first man sighed, looking at one screen of the ZAFT council. "Zala…so what are you going to do next?"

…

[PLANT]

…

"_Murata Azrael_ denounced Eurasia for cruelty? The _Blue_ _Cosmos_ of all groups calling others heartless?!" Patrick Zala hasn't been genuinely shocked for a long time now. "What the hell is going on now?!"

"He's always been focused on the advancement of the Blue Cosmos agenda. Perhaps he thought this would be the best time to strike?" Rau Le Cruset said as he read a transcript of Azrael's speech. "Wow, he's thought this one through pretty well…how surprising." Rau's voice had a hint of pride. "Well, this helps us, at the very least."

"Operation Spitbreak, huh…" Patrick sat back down in his chair. "Can we proceed as planned, considering the circumstances?"

"I imagine that it will go a bit easier thanks to this." Rau waves the transcript at Patrick. "As long as the EFA doesn't have anything buried in Alaska."

Patrick sneered. "I don't believe the EFA would bury a bomb inside their own headquarters…but I guess you can never know when it comes to the Naturals." He then turns to face Rau. "I'm counting on you for this, my friend."

Rau smiles. "Of course."

…

[Morgenroete, next day, 1400 hours]

…

The Archangel was finally crewed and in the water again.

"That wasn't much of a vacation." Mu grumbled. "Too much politics going on."

They had learned early in the morning that Eurasia, which was silent up until now, had declared the attackers of the Equatorial Union "rogue soldiers not affiliated with any EFA establishment" and also declared their intention to assist the EU in any way they can.

"All this means is that the EFA can now annex the EU in every way but name." Mu said disgustedly. "It's not like the EU has anything to fight with."

Largely true; the Equatorial Union fought back with Spearheads and tanks, but in numbers too small to even matter against the forces being arrayed against them.

"Will anyone even believe them?" Miriallia asked.

Mu was hanging out in the bridge because he had nothing better to do with his time.

"If _that_ didn't happen, I don't think anyone would." Mu points to the news feed of two EFA squadrons dogfighting over the skies of a city in the EU territory of the Philippine, he didn't know which city it was, only that the map showed it to be on the largest island in that particular area.

Murure sighed. "Alright, once we're out of Orb waters, we're going to run full speed to Alaska; the sooner we get there, the better."

As the last words left her mouth, Miriallia received a message marked CONFIDENTIAL.

"Uh, captain, you might want to see this." She said, after silently cursing Murrue for tempting fate.

Murrue got up and walked over to the communications panel, read the message, walked back to the captain's chair, and sunk her face into her hands.

"I just had to say it; I just had to say it." She mumbled.

"What happened?" Mu asked coyly, before reading the message himself. "Oh those sons of-"

"Call up the all our pilots, I want their opinion." Murrue commanded, jumping to her feet.

"Roger that." Miriallia said glumly. "Bridge to all pilots, please report to the briefing room. I repeat; all pilots report to the briefing room."

"Does that count me too?" Tolle asked, pointing to himself. Of his squadron he was the only one left on the ship (the other two guys took the first chance to disembark, risk of being considered deserters be damned).

Murrue made a half-hearted wave of her hand that looked like "go ahead."

…

…

"What's going on now?" Kira asked, feeling a sense of foreboding.

Murrue pulled up the confidential message on the large screen in the briefing room.

Everyone besides Murrue and Mu stared at the message.

ORDER FROM: ALASKA

RECIPIENT: EFA ASSET ARCHANGEL

COMMAND: ASSIST EURASIA/BLUE COSMOS IN OPERATIONS AGAINST ROGUE EFA FORCES IN CONFLICT TERRITORY

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Woo. Yeah, Azrael isn't behind it. That would be too easy.

Author answers to guest reviews!

Blade: The Aces are flying SEED crafts right now, and I don't consider real world fighters a part of Strangereal…So Mobius 1 will not have his signature F-22 A.

Mega Float Guest: NEMO has a spot in this story, as do as many characters in Strangereal as I can possibly manage to fit.


	15. Stage 13 - Prelude

"Alright, everyone here?" Neil looked around the briefing room. "Good, let's start the briefing."

A picture of a coastline Ribbon didn't recognize appeared on the screen behind Neil. "Today you will be deploying to control the airspace over the city of Davao, in the territory of the Phillipine Islands…"

Ribbon tuned him out, letting his mind wander instead.

The general response toward the current state of affairs and the order to assist Blue Cosmos has been, at best, hostile. However, while the consensus aboard the ship during the time of their mission statement was a resounding "what the hell" the fact remained that the Archangel was still a Federation ship, and thus was still duty-bound to follow orders.

Therefore, for the past five weeks the Archangel sailed as a part of the EFA's "Rebel Suppression" task force, conducting mission after mission in the Equatorial Union's waters. Their job would've been easier if all of their forces were available on hand, but Kira Yamato and Tolle Koenig stubbornly refused to deploy in almost every mission they were assigned, and their stay from mission participation was further reinforced when high command handed down an execute order that effectively grounded both the Strike and the Skygraspers from flying within the Equatorial Union territories.

_Not that Tolle would've mattered much. _Ribbon thought idly, watching a grid map of the coastline depict the targets they were going to hit today.

With the majority of the Archangel's diverse strike force gone, the only deployable unit left was, thus, the Razgriz.

The presence of the Razgriz over the EU territory, flying as a part of the EFA military proper, led to a secondary development.

While the ZAFT knew of the Razgriz's existence (Patrick Zala trying to quash rumors of an "elite EFA task force" by means of censorship only added fuel to that particular fire) the EFA itself has been very noncommittal on the existence of such a squadron. Namely, EFA news outlets were encouraged to broadcast the feats of other, less successful squadrons to make the Razgriz seem less important.

However, two weeks into the rebel suppression war, the four Razgriz planes were ambushed by a several squadrons of Rebel Spearheads over a city in the Philippine Islands within sight of a major satellite television network helicopter. As a result, the world got to see in real time the sheer force of the Razgriz as they annihilated their would-be ambushers while protecting the civilian chopper, and then continued with their original mission (which was the escort of an EFA cargo flight). All within the timespan of less than three minutes.

_The EFA's flying a lot of cargo into the EU lately. _Ribbon mused.

Either way, the Razgriz's on-camera achievement forced the EFA to break their silence.

Almost overnight, their story on the Razgriz switched from "well, they are a squadron of good pilots, but the EFA has plenty of men like that" to "they are the EFA's Ace of Aces, the pride of the Federation."

Naturally the sudden change in tone was noticed by pretty much everyone with a brain, but whatever the media outlets had to say about the Razgriz didn't change the fact the Razgriz were being deployed on essentially every mission within the Equatorial Union theatre.

That kind of deployment schedule was wrecking havoc on both the Razgriz pilots and their aircraft.

Ribbon felt a tap on his shoulder, and looked up to see Blaze staring at him worriedly.

"You ok there, man? Need a break for today?" Blaze asked.

Ribbon shook his head and stood up, aware now that the briefing was over while his mind wandered. "Nah, I'm good. What are we doing today?"

Blaze rolled his eyes. "Good, he says; same as usual, flying support for a cargo ship."

Were it not for the fact that they had two replacement pilots on call (besides Tolle and Kira) the situation would've been a lot worse.

"You sure there, kid?" Bartlett asked, clapping Ribbon on the shoulder. "We can handle it for the day; no point macho-ing yourself to death."

Ribbon smirked. "We can't fly three-man formations forever."

"Oh you can and you will." Murdoch practically snarled from his seat in the back of the room.

The Archangel had an unspoken policy lately: avoid Murdoch whenever he is outside of the hangar.

"Something else came up today?" Captain Bartlett asked.

"You guessed it." Murdoch growled. "We're grounding unit three; there's a power failure in the craft and I don't know where it is yet."

Ribbon sighed despite himself. Despite the sturdiness of the Super Spearheads the constant strain on the aircraft was causing a myriad of breakdowns, and the breakdowns were occurring faster than Murdoch or the Grunder mechanics could catch.

"We've even retrofitted the Bombers back into their all-purpose variants. This sucks." Murdoch raged toward the ceiling.

"The price we pay for being famous, I suppose; see you when we get back, Ribbon; and get some sleep." Blaze ordered.

Ribbon sighed again; the fact that the Razgriz (not the Archangel, interestingly enough) was in the limelight meant that any shirking of duty on their part would draw some very unfortunate attention their way.

_I suppose Murrue knows this, given how hard we're being pushed. _Ribbon thought, before being dragged off by Bartlett toward the officer's lounge as the older man said something about "properly resting up".

…

…

"Razgriz fighters are cleared to deploy." Miriallia declared, per her job. "Good luck, guys."

"Copy that; Razgriz one, away." Blaze confirmed.

The Archangel tremored just a tiny bit as three Super Spearheads took to the skies, flying off into their next mission.

"High command is pushing them far too hard." Natarle grumbled. "Us, too."

Mu, in lieu of having an aircraft to fly (not that he particularly felt the urge to) was pulled by Murrue to act as a commanding officer so the two other captains could get a decent amount of sleep.

Murrue sighed. "It can't be helped; orders are orders." She looked wistfully out into the sky. "Though I really liked it better when they just wanted us back home for the Archangel's data."

"Yeah." Natarle sighed. "Well…Captain, here are the orders for the day."

"Can't I just have today off?" Murrue complained to the ceiling.

…

…

"Why are they still doing this?" Kira asked as he gazed into the screen of yet another city landscape on a small television screen.

Tolle idly flipped another page in his book. "Who, the good guys or the bad guys?"

"Both of them." Kira sighed. "This is stupid; the Rebels aren't putting up a fight and the EFA is dragging its feet."

"Dragging its feet? We've been here for weeks now!" Tolle exclaimed. "Well, ok, I can see how that's dragging their feet, but the rebels are hard to root out."

Kira shot him a look. "Do you really believe the whole Rebels business?"

Tolle closed his book. "No, not really...it's just too convenient, and it doesn't make any sense." He then jumps off of the couch. "But at the same time it's not like we have any kind of evidence."

Kira sighs, something he's been doing a lot in the past few weeks. "Dammit. Why won't this war just end already?" His attention is then drawn back to the screen to the sounds of explosions and the distinctive roar of the Spearhead engines.

"Looks like ours." Tolle watched the two flights of Spearheads engage each other over the city's airspace.

Kira frowned. "That reminds me. Why are they sending out their aces on stupid escort missions? Seems like a waste of time to me."

Tolle shrugged. "They're supplies for the war refugees, right? Those things have to take top priority."

"Well, sure, but…" Kira drummed his fingers on the table. "Wouldn't it be better if they sent their best pilots on just attack missions instead? What if the cargoes are carrying something weird?"

"Weird?" Tolle repeats with a frown. "How weird?"

"I don't know, just…weird things."

…

…

…

"Weird things?" Blaze raised an eyebrow upon Tolle's question, having just disembarked from the Super Spearhead.

"Yeah, like…you guys get a weird feeling whenever something big comes up, right?" Tolle asked.

"Something like that, sure." Blaze says warily, watching his plane get towed into a hangar lock.

"Did you guys feel anything with the cargo planes?" Tolle asks, and almost immediately realizes just how stupid the question sounds.

Blaze, fortunately, doesn't care in the slightest. "Hmm…" He strokes his chin. "Not exactly. As far as I know we were just guarding normal cargo planes; something on your mind?"

Tolle shakes his head. "Uh, no, not really…Kira and I were just going over some theories on why the top brass is pushing us so hard."

Blaze opens his mouth to respond, but is then distracted by Talisman rushing into the Gründer workshop (which was just a piece of real estate on the hangar floor) on the opposite side of the hangar and then hugging a small cylinder-looking weapon on the ground.

"What's this new love you found?" Blaze asks with a confused grin as he walks up to Talisman.

"It's my baby." Talisman said happily.

One of the Gründer mechanics laugh loudly. "Blaze, you surprised, yes?" The mechanic taps a similar cylinder next to him. "This is Emmerian RCL. Best of their kind."

Blaze frowns. "RCLs, huh…I have to admit I liked UGBs a lot more."

"What are you talking about?" Tolle asks sheepishly.

The mechanic overrode him. "Emmerians very good at making weapons; we Gründer learn from them and apply our knowledge here."

"You have no idea how much I miss RCLs." Talisman says, still draped on the RCL cylinder.

"Not like we can use it here, though." Ribbon says, walking out from underneath the chassis of the XFA-27.

Blaze had never gotten a look up close at the aircraft. During his time in Osea he had heard about a project to create the "Ultimate fighter jet" (many of them, actually) and as far as he knew the XFA project was discontinued after a single working prototype was made. The chassis laid out in front of him had pieces of fuselage removed to make room for wires that ran all around the plane and ended at either laptops or the CFA-44 that was currently out of sight.

Despite this, he could still tell that this jet was designed for mobility at the sacrifice of everything else. Its plethora of thin, triangular wings gave it a menacing, almost alien look, and it gave him a kind of weird satisfaction to know that the stories he had heard about the XFA's ability to turn on a dime was at least reasonably true.

"What were you doing here? Did Bartlett finally let you go?" Blaze chuckled.

Both of them knew that neither Ribbon nor Captain Bartlett drank alcohol on duty, if ever. "We can say that; I was helping out the mechanics with some fine tuning."

"Can we really be fine tuning for aircraft that obviously isn't going to fly any time soon, though?" Tolle wondered.

"It is a necessary step in process, boy." A Gründer mechanic scoffed. "You and brown hair brat not have any flight assignments to do, yes? Then lend us a hand. You might learn something."

"I really don't think I should be—" Tolle says quickly, but is also quickly overridden.

"You think nothing; young men shouldn't just sit and wait. You must take action!"

Without further ado, the mechanic dragged Tolle into the workshop.

"Are we gonna help him?" Ribbon asked, wiping his hands with a rag.

Blaze looked between Tolle being dragged unceremoniously into the CFA-44's underbelly and Talisman still hugging the RCL canister. "Meh, it'll be fine."

…

…

[Earth Orbit, same day, roughly same time]

…

…

"They're very, very dedicated about all of this."

"Sir?"

Rau Le Cruset continued to stare at the screen showing news coverage of the EFA within the Equatorial Union. "Almost too dedicated…have our satellites seen anything over the EU region?"

The aide was caught off guard by that question. "Uh, no sir, I don't…or, rather, there haven't been any major changes since last time."

_'Last time' being two days ago. _Rau reminded himself. "I see…and how have our scouts fared?"

'Scouts' being the blanket term referring to the ZAFT disaster relief personnel sent into the Equatorial Union at the behest of the Equatorial Union (which served the combined purposes of letting ZAFT get spies formally on the ground, letting ZAFT get good PR within the EU populace, and protecting the ZAFT soldiers from monumental harm).

"Our scouts haven't found anything of interest; as far as they can tell the EFA's cargo runs into the EU really are just relief supplies." The aide glanced down at his note board. "Of course, that doesn't really answer the original question."

Rau nods, his attention fixed upon a document listing a series of ships currently within their fleet space.

"Sir?"

Rau gave no indication that he heard the aide, and merely waved his hand.

The aide saluted and left the captain's quarters.

"The question of why the EFA is giving relief to a nation that definitely does not need it remains unanswered." Rau mutters to himself, going over the ship list one last time. "But that…doesn't matter to us for now."

…

[ZAFT Submarine]

…

"Hey! Captain Athrun!" Athrun heard momentarily before he felt a hearty clap on the shoulder.

"What is it, Dearka?" Athrun said tiredly.

"Is everything ready on your end, oh great captain?" Dearka asked with a grin.

Athrun was too tired and annoyed by this point to care. "Just about. How's it looking for you guys?"

Dearka seemed slightly annoyed at Athrun's lack of appropriate response. "So so…the second batch isn't nearly as good, but they'll manage somehow."

"Hard to believe high command is suddenly sending us in for an operation, especially now, of all times." Yzak said, leaning on the door frame.

"Yeah." Athrun nodded, double checking his flight suit. "How do you feel about all of this, Yzak?"

Yzak scoffed. "As a soldier? Great. As a man? It sickens me."

Dearka stared at him. "If this operation goes well the big war is pretty much done and over with, you know?"

"I do." Yzak said. "But it doesn't make me feel any better about stabbing someone else behind their backs."

"You do realize we stole their mobile suits, right?" Dearka deadpanned.

"Yeah. That's that, and this is this." Yzak shrugged. "Something just feels wrong about the whole thing, that's all."

"Uh, sirs?" An aide asked timidly, earning a glare from Yzak. "The captain wants you to be at the briefing room in five, sir."

"We'll be right there; you're dismissed." Yzak said tersely. The aide saluted quickly and left.

"Going back to old habits, Yzak?" Dearka asked lightly.

Yzak grimaced. "I don't feel good about this whole thing; I don't know why."

…

…

[Elsewhere]

…

…

A man took a wine glass and drained it in one go, and then slammed it on the table. "I thought you said you had all of this under control!" He said angrily.

A second man poured the first one some more wine. "We do, we do…everything is under control."

The first man gestured pointedly at the television screen, at the news of the EU versus EFA war. "You call this under control?!"

"It is certainly under control; a certain amount of…rearrangement, must be made before true progress can occur." The second man said lazily.

"True progress? What kind of progress can we have by doing this kind of idiocy?!" The first man said after draining his wine glass again.

"The kind of progress that won't be stopped by some small, technologically advanced island nation with no alignments." A woman's voice came from somewhere else in the room.

The first man gave the woman leaning against the wall scant attention. "End this stupid secondary war, and realign your focus toward actually killing the damned coordinators." He said coldly.

"It would be nice if it was that easy." The second man laughed, and lounged on the large sofa in the middle of the room.

The first man opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by his phone.

"Yeah? What is it?" He said angrily as soon as he answered the call.

_It's show time. _The second man thought with a thin smile, his head tilted toward the television screen, as the first man's phone clattered to the floor.

…

…

[Archangel Bridge, 1900 hours]

…

…

"Emergency wire from Alaska!" Miriallia yelled out. "Panama is under attack by ZAFT!"

Murrue snapped to attention, all thoughts of dinner gone. "What? When?!"

"Uh…message time lag, fifteen minutes!" Miriallia cursed ZAFT inwardly for destroying the EFA's satellites wholesale.

Natarle slammed her clenched fist on her chair. "Dammit; did we receive any orders?" She demanded.

Miriallia shook her head frantically. "The Archangel has been ordered to maintain current combat posture as demanded by the operation."

"What? Those goddamned idiots!" Murrue said into her hand (which was currently residing on her face, palm open). "Connect me to the fleet commander."

…

"We got the message too, Captain Ramius." The fleet commander said almost as soon as the connection was established. "But I don't think hurrying to the base is the wisest choice of action here."

"The hell it isn't." Murrue snarled. She almost added the fact that they had the Razgriz on their side, but thought better of it at the last second.

"I understand your concern, captain." The fleet commander said with an edge is his voice due to Murrue's lack of proper décor. "But the fact remains that we will certainly not make it in time; let the forces stationed in the Americas handle it."

Murrue took a deep breath. "Right, right…my apologies, commander, for speaking out of line."

The fleet commander waved it away. "Apology accepted…if ZAFT attacked Panama, then certainly they're going to be attacking Josh-A as well." He said after a moment of mulling it over.

"We can certainly get there in time if we move at full speed." Murrue muttered. "Sir, requesting permission to separate from the current battle operation."

The Fleet Commander thought it over for a fraction of a second before a smile crept onto his face. "Denied; the Archangel is hereby assigned to Josh-A in order to continue its reinforcement of our Equatorial Union combat theatre."

Murrue rolled her eyes. "Yes sir; we will depart immediately."

…

…

"Seriously?"

Mu La Flaga nodded. "Yeah. Apparently Panama's being hit right now."

"So why are we going to Josh-A?" Blaze snarled.

Mu patted Blaze on the shoulder. "Easy there, buddy; if we go to Panama now we won't make it in time to protect it. Judging by the sound of things ZAFT's deployed some pretty skilled pilots to take the place over."

Blaze sighed. "Must be those guys from before."

Mu shrugged. "Probably; either way, Natarle wants all free hands doing rush maintenance on our fighters."

"Which means I'm getting my hands dirty?" Blaze said with an unusually bright grin.

Mu laughed. "Yep…we get to be bossed around by the mechanics this time."

…

[Orbit]

…

The crew of the Vesalius was treated to a rare sight of Rau Le Cruset shaking his head in utter dejection.

"Three days, why were they so rushed as to attack three days early?" He sighed into his gloved hands.

"Sir?" An aide asked hesitantly.

Rau made a noise halfway between a snarl and a sigh. "How are our preparations?"

"About eighty percent of the ships are in place. The rest will arrive tomorrow at 0800 hours." The aide said.

Rau smiled at the news. "Wonderful…we're on schedule for Operation Spitbreak, at the very least. How is the Panama Op going?"

The aide checked another piece of paper on his clipboard. "According to the satellite images, the Carpentaria forces have subdued Panama base in three hours, and summarily destroyed both the base garrison and a reinforcing EFA task force with ease." The aide grinned. "Our boys are kickin' ass, captain."

"Good, good…" Rau steepled his fingers like a man with scary shiny glasses in a different anime. _Now then, Federation…what will you do with your heads cut off?_

…

[Somewhere on Earth]

…

"HOW COULD YOU HAVE LET THEM TAKE PANAMA BASE?!"

The man currently being raised off the ground by his collars stared at his bedraggled assailant.

"Calm yourself, general; we knew this was going to happen." The man said coldly.

"Calm?! How can I be calm?! We lost a key position and we lost it decisively!" The EFA General snarled. "No, _you _lost it decisively. We should've never trusted the likes of you to handle our defenses to begin with." The General dropped the man and paced around the room.

The man adjusted his collar. "All of this is within our expectations, General."

The General swerved to glare. "You predicted that the EFA would lose Panama base?"

The man scratched behind his ear. "It happened a bit earlier than we expected, and Panama fell much earlier than we anticipated…regardless, there have been no hindrances to our plan."

The General felt like he really should have strangled the man. Instead, he settled for violently demolishing a table with a punch.

"Please take good care of furniture, general." The man said lazily.

The General's response was to kick a piece of table into a wall. "Bah. You're useless." He said as he stormed out of the room.

"Look on the bright side." The man said after a minute of complete silence. "At least you won't have to worry about Panama in a few weeks." With a casual flick of his wrist, the small toy in his hand landed on the coffee table in the middle of the room.

A small toy of a gun with an obscenely long barrel, pointed toward the sky.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author notes:

If it feels like I'm rushing the storyline, it's because I am, in a mixture of both sheer incompetence and just a desire to get to the good part.


	16. Stage 14 - Nightmare

[Skies over the Pacific, near Alaska, 1300 Hours]

…

"Sky Eye here, Razgriz Three, report your status."

Ribbon put his Super Spearhead into a lazy Aileron roll. "Razgriz Three here, nothing out of the ordinary."

"And how's your plane?"

Ribbon scanned the sky. "Same as usual…there's not much we can do with duct tape and metal sheets."

"Copy that. You're cleared to return at the end of your patrol route."

"Razgriz three copies." Ribbon sighs. "Seriously. We're so close to EFA territory and still need to fly patrols."

"Hey, it's all fun and games until ZAFT shows up with their subs." Cipher said with a hint of frown.

"That's what I find unusual, actually." Ribbon saw a glint on the ocean surface, and dove to an altitude of a hundred feet above the ocean surface. "If ZAFT has that kind of ocean superiority, why are the EFA fleets not wiped out?"

Cipher saw Ribbon's plane descend and adjusted his patrol path just in case Ribbon needed help. "It's probably because ZAFT only had a few months to deploy subs."

"It's pretty amazing how both sides had only a few months and yet still had the material to wage large-scale battles all over the place." Ribbon murmurs, pulling his Spearhead high into the sky again.

"Yeah. Amazing." Cipher agreed, his frown deepening.

…

…

"Good work, pilots." The Gründer head mechanic clapped Ribbon on the back. "Your plane dances in the sky like usual, no?"

"The usual problems aside." Ribbon nods. "Think we're going to get into a fight in Alaska?"

"Better safe than sorry." The mechanic shrugs, a huge grin plastered on his face. "We get good data from your patrols. Project ACES making good progress."

That got Blaze's attention. "Oh really? We're looking at new planes?"

The mechanic's face turned apologetic. "No. Factories not on Archangel." He then laughs. "Gründer headquarters has good data on machine. We have good data on pilot. Best of both worlds. Take a look at this." He held out his hand, a small plastic model resting in his palm.

Ribbon glanced at the model fighter in the mechanic's hand and found himself entranced. "This is…"

The mechanic took the model away with a wry expression. "The child of X-fighters from all over the world."

Talisman stole a glance before the model was put away. _It looks like a marriage between a CFA-44 and the PAK-FA. _"Are we getting the first ones then?"

The mechanic grins. "Oh yes. Oh definitely yes. My babies are my babies."

…

[Space]

…

Rau Le Cruset heard a knock on his door. "Enter."

An aide salutes, having taken no more than two steps into the captain's quarters. "Sir, our satellites have image of the legged ship moving toward Josh-A."

Rau Le Cruset dismissed this information. "As we expected."

"Also, we have caught something…interesting." The aide continued. Upon a wave of Rau's hand, he pulled up a picture on his tablet computer. "Sir, look here."

Rau stared indifferently at the image for a moment.

The aide, picking up on Rau's mood, quickly pointed at a region on the map. "Sir, this region has a comparatively different color from the region around it."

"The EFA is hiding from a ZAFT satellite." Rau said indifferently.

"Yes sir." The aide nods. "But going by the measurements, this region that they're covering? It's 1200 kilometers wide."

Rau blinked. "That's absurd. The EFA has no such complex of that size…does high command know about this?"

The aide interpreted that to mean Patrick Zala. "No sir. I thought you might want to know first."

Rau thought for a moment, and then rose from his chair. "I understand. Good work."

…

…

[Panama Base (under ZAFT occupation)]

Athrun felt good.

It was one thing to teach pilots (many of whom were older than he was, if only by a little) how to fly, it was another to lead them into battle as their actual captain. Seeing their skills proven against the EFA fighters (even if the EFA can't fly worth a damn on a good day) and seeing their training pay off did his reputation and (his pride) a lot of good.

His current good mood, born from the fact that people respect him and he is sixteen years old (or so), quickly turned into confusion as he saw a transport come from the general direction of Carpentaria base.

Athrun saw the transport land on the undamaged airstrip in the base, and hurried to satisfy his curiosity.

…

"What's going on?" Athrun asked as soon as he could see the back of the oversized cargo plane. "Didn't they say we weren't going to get relief for another week?"

Dearka stared at him. "Why are you complaining about that?!"

"I'm not complaining, but…" Athrun said, watching the large cargo boxes get ferried down by the base's trucks.

Yzak folded his arms. "Apparently your father is changing his mind. They're sending in supplies and equipment to reinforce Panama base as a proper ZAFT foothold."

Athrun thought for a moment. _It's true that there has been rumors of a ZAFT planned attack on JOSH-A._

Dearka clapped him on the back. "Look on the bright side: we can finally get a good night's sleep for once!" The three Cruset team boys were alternating patrol (by virtue of being the squads with the best pilots) and the rigorous schedule was taking its toll. Though, being coordinators, they didn't show it.

"So what's in those boxes?" Athrun asked.

"My guess? Perimeter guns." Yzak said. "We tore every last one of them out when we got here."

…

[Archangel]

…

Miriallia heard a beep on her communications console. "Incoming message from Josh-A." She read. "ZAFT moving to hold Panama base, attack on Alaska deemed unlikely."

Murrue raised an eyebrow. "Just like that? The top brass is getting stupid."

Natarle looked at Miriallia. "Are there any orders for us?"

Miriallia shook her head.

Natarle frowned. "So they're letting us go back to HQ anyways?"

Murrue stretched; it has been a long day. "We do have the most advanced ship around." She then turned to Miriallia. "Call back our fighters; we're going to reach Josh-A at full speed."

"Yes ma'am."

…

[Next day, 0600 hours]

…

With the Josh-A waterfall in sight, the Archangel finally slowed down from the breakneck pace it sailed at.

"Well, that only took forever." Arnold Neuman, the helsman, grumbled.

"At least it was a boring forever." Sai chuckled, tired from the night shift.

…

…

[Later]

…

…

Ribbon walked by the officer's lounge and saw the TV on. He doubled back to see what was on.

"How does it look?" Ribbon asked Blaze.

Blaze sat lower in his seat. "Bad. The Rebels got a second wind somehow, and the Feds are struggling."

Both of them stared at the news report of the ongoing war in the Equatorial Union.

"Damn. Kind of makes you wish for home, doesn't it." Ribbon sighed.

Blaze laughs. "With all the wars we get into, I'm not sure we can judge."

Ribbon shakes his head. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Hey! You guys meeting in here?" Captain Bartlett called out.

"Hey, cap." Blaze said as a greeting, still watching the news.

"What are you guys going to do? This is an EFA base, after all…" Ribbon asked.

"We? I'm going to get my pay and leave." Captain Bartlett said with a nonchalant shrug. "I'm not like you, Ribbon." Bartlett said in a tone that sounded almost wistful.

"And Yellow 13?"

"Hey, he can do whatever the hell he wants." Bartlett laughs. "I'm not going to babysit an Erusean Ace."

"I plan to do the same as Captain Bartlett." Yellow 13 said, having found the conversation while walking through the ship. "Unlike the four of you, neither of us have any strong attachments to the EFA flag…and, well…" He scowls at the blazing skyline depicted on the television. "After that, I'm not sure I want to."

Blaze nodded, not turning his head. "Yeah, I get what you mean…if we weren't such celebs in the EFA I'd think of jumping ship too."

"What are they making you guys do?" Captain Bartlett asked.

"Transfer. We're going to be part of a strike force to retake Panama Base." Ribbon said bitterly. "If I didn't know better I'd say they're trying to get us killed."

"Don't think you can do it?" Bartlett grins.

Blaze turns his head, looking at Bartlett over his shoulder. "We can do it; it's just a matter of how many lives will be lost when it happens."

"Well, the transfer isn't happening for a week at least." Ribbon sighed. "So at the very least we can sit and relax."

"Relax?" The Gründer head mechanic repeated menacingly. "There is work to do; you cannot be relaxing at this time."

Ribbon felt the mechanic's hand on his shoulder squeeze, and wondered for a brief moment how he got that close to begin with. "Right, of course."

"Sucks to be you, Ribbon." Blaze laughed, and then stopped mid-laugh as the mechanic put a hand on him as well. "Er, right. Work, and all that."

…

…

[4 Days later, Space. ZAFT Orbital Fleet]

…

…

Rau Le Cruset ran through a final checklist of his CGUE. "All systems are green. Commander, how are the drop pods looking?"

The commander gave him a thumbs up over the screen. "Drop pods are good to go; we're just waiting for the drop window."

"Five days…Operation Spit-break was delayed five days." Rau mutters to himself. "I guess it's good that the EFA has such poor morale, to have such willing sources of information from within their ranks."

…

[Josh-A]

…

Ribbon turned to stare. "ZAFT is going to attack today?"

Miriallia nodded. "That's what the message said. Captain Murrue wants all of you to get ready."

"Spearheads are good to go." The Gründer head mechanic grunted. "Don't get shot."

"Thanks." Ribbon said as he jumped down from the shell of the XFA-27. He then looked at Miriallia. "Who gave you the tip-off?"

She shrugs. "We have no idea; the messenger didn't leave any hints, but going by the electronic footprint the sender was from space; Tolle thinks it's someone from ZAFT."

"Huh…lucky for us then."

…

[Skies over Josh-A, 1200 hours]

…

"Heh…let's begin." Rau Le Cruset said.

The first wave of pods (which didn't contain him) breached the atmosphere and descended like bullets toward the massive waterfall that shielded Josh-A's main entrance.

Almost immediately, the ground lit up with anti-aircraft fire and surface to air missiles, and the sky was instantly full with missile trails and streams of bullets.

The ZAFT pods, in response, relied on purging their ablative shielding, causing the missiles to go after the comparatively hotter heat panels instead of the pods.

"That's more resistance than I expected…but all things being equal, I suppose it's too much to assume that the EFA had no radar pointed up." Rau grunted. "Second wave, prepare for descent."

"Yes sir." The second wave pilots acknowledged as the first wave's pods deployed, their cargo of GINNs and CGUEs immediately spraying the ground beneath them with bullets.

…

"Shit, right on time, too." Blaze snarled. "Command, can we launch?"

"Negative, Blaze; the fire is too thick. You'll just be shot down if you deploy now." Murrue said.

Blaze cut the radio and yelled an explicative, his Spearhead already hooked on one of the Archangel's catapults.

"What a day, huh?" Ribbon sighed. "If only the two of them didn't leave yesterday."

"They were mercenaries and their contract is paid up, I'm not that surprised…though given their past employers…" Talisman's laugh sounded just a bit hollow. "I'm amazed the EFA paid them at all."

Ribbon then felt the ship shake. "What the hell was that?"

"The ZAFT drop pods are hitting ground…probably in a lot of pieces." Kira said, impatiently drumming on the Strike's console. "C'mon…let us go out there already."

…

"Second wave, away…first wave is making good progress."

Rau looks at the display again.

The first wave of CGUEs and GINNs, following their orders to the T, unloaded everything they had on the ground emplacements, and as such greatly reduced the amount of anti-air fire headed their way.

"However, the EFA hasn't launched any fighters…" He mutters, and then scowls. "Did they anticipate our strategy? Third wave, we're descending, now."

…

"Second wave incoming." Miriallia reports. "High command is clearing all elements to engage."

"Good…" Murrue growls. "About time. Archangel, forward! All fighters, deploy once we're clear of the waterfall!"

…

"Enemy fighters have deployed."

Rau gritted his teeth. The EFA spearheads were deploying from all around the waterfall, from excellently hidden catapults in the ground that shot the fighters vertically into the air, and straight into an interception path against the second batch of drop pods.

Owing to the fact that drop pods have no evasion to speak of (even though they fly very fast) the Spearheads were able to intercept and cripple a large number of those drop pods before the rest opened and delivered their now very angry cargo.

Rau's attention, however, was immediately focused on the legged ship as it protruded from the waterfall, the catapults in its legs extended and ready. "Shit."

…

"Razgriz! Scramble launch! Protect the base!" Blaze roars.

The Four Spearhead lanced into the skies one after another and climbed as one to meet the drop pods.

"I have to admit I don't like this a whole lot." Talisman murmurs as his eyes flicker down to double-check his IFF signature.

"Makes the two of us." Cipher grumbles.

"I'll cover you from here." Kira promises.

The Strike flew behind the Razgriz planes, not having the engine power to keep up with the smaller, nimbler planes in a steep climb.

"Do me a favor, pilots." The Gründer head mechanic ordered. "Use new weapon and use it a lot."

"The 'EML', right?" Ribbon got an acknowledgement in reply. "Ok, let's do this; Mobius one, firing EML."

The slightly oversized Electromagnetic Launcher strapped to the bottom of Ribbon's Super Spearhead fired a bullet with a loud, sharp roar, and the drop pod in front of him shook as the shot missed the center of mass and ripped through one of the four shells of the pod, ruining the pod's aerodynamic balance and forcing the GINNs within to deploy.

Said GINNs were quickly dispatched by a salvo of missiles from the Razgriz.

…

"Shit, they're coming after us now. All units, deploy as soon as you are able!" a ZAFT Captain ordered as his pod deployed and his CGUE dropped away, its guns blaring at the Spearheads rising up to meet them.

…

"Ok, they're coming out; don't get bogged down out there, Razgriz." Sky Eye warns as blips multiplied on his radar in response to the EFA blips.

"Understood." Blaze acknowledged, and then armed all of his missiles at once. "Fox three!"

Blaze's Spearhead flipped and dropped in altitude as the four Belkan-made long range missiles (XLAAs) attached to the bottom of the craft separated and flew toward their targets. Ribbon, Cipher, and Talisman followed suit, and the set of sixteen missiles found their marks in the descending ZAFT GINNs.

Though to be fair, there were a lot of targets to begin with.

The other EFA Spearheads quickly copied the Razgriz's actions, saturating the airspace with missiles and mowing down the ZAFT mobile suits with surprising efficiency.

"Whoa, when did these guys learn how to shoot?" Blaze laughed, diving toward the ground and away from an incoming salvo of friendly SAM fire.

"There's nothing but targets up there, what'd you expect?" Cipher laughed along with him, pulling his aircraft level and turning in a wide circle to engage the ZAFT units closer to the base's massive waterfall entrance.

"Razgriz, be advised: warships are exiting the dock; don't get caught in their crossfire." Sky Eye warned.

Ribbon looked down briefly to see the silhouettes of the other warships finally pulling away from the massive waterfall.

"You know…" Talisman took aim at the back of a ZAFT GINN with his EML and perforated the poor thing. "For an attack that we knew was coming, the EFA got caught pretty flat-footed, all things considered."

"That's true." Murrue mutters. "Maybe the message was sent only to us?"

Talisman laughs. "Ha! We have a guardian angel somewhere." He then notices a set of GINNs that successfully avoided being shot to pieces head toward the defense fleet. "Kira, those are yours."

"I see them." Kira squints into the new targeting hardware that looks a lot like an oversized sniper scope. "Aiming and firing."

The set of GINNs (and one CGUE that Talisman missed) saw the EFA warships long enough before they were summarily taken down by a long range sniping attack from the Strike.

Kira frowns. "I like this new gear, but it's really hard to use when I need to be mobile." He then cuts the engines on the Strike and plummets like a rock for a second, causing a CGUE looking for an easy blindside kill to cut thin air. "Though I guess at this range it doesn't matter." Kira said as the Strike finishes its evasive turn to point its beam rifle at the CGUE, blasting away the head and one of its wings.

"Fox two." Cipher didn't bother looking to see where his heat seeking missiles went. "Sky Eye, Razgriz two is Winchester, requesting permission to go home and eat."

Neil shrugs, glancing at Murrue for permission; she nods. "Sky Eye, copy. To all units: don't get too cocky out there; if you run out then come home, we have a lot of work today."

"Roger that." Ribbon grunts, lining up a pair of GINNs and shredding them to pieces with the EML.

…

"This is going amazingly poorly." Rau Le Cruset remarked; his previous anger at the plan going haywire has been replaced with curiosity, especially when he noticed how the EFA pilots just flew _better _when those four Demons were around.

"Sir, should we continue with the operation?" The fleet captain in space asked.

"That's a no; call for reinforcements, we'll retreat for now. I hear Panama's great this time of year." Rau said lightly.

Both parties skirted around the issue of getting around the EFA-held territory of North America.

Rau then felt his stomach drop, and wildly looked around for the cause despite his common sense and his immense experience.

…

Meanwhile, Blaze, Ribbon and Talisman were doing the same thing.

"Oh hell, this is NOT good." Blaze snarls. "Sky Eye! Is there something coming on radar?!"

Murrue frowns. "What are they—?"

"Sky Eye here, area is clear." Neil replied quickly, and then switched to a common EFA frequency. "This is AWACS Sky Eye to all friendly units, unknown element possible, stay on your toes, people!"

Mu La Flaga, feeling a little ignored, decided to address the rest of the Spearhead pilots. "Oy! You lot! Stay on my wing!" He received a smattering of acknowledgements in reply.

Ribbon then took a sharp breath. "Shit!" He flipped to the same frequency. "Drop to below 2000 feet! Hurry!"

"How much is that in meters?!" Mu demanded, but taking the steepest dive he dared, with the rest of the Spearheads on his tail.

"This is Josh-A." Everyone heard a gruff voice say over every friendly frequency. "We're commencing with long range support bombardment, stay out of the firing zones."

"Long range…don't tell me." Ribbon snarled, levelling his aircraft a few precious feet from the water surface.

"They already have Stonehenge-type rounds…makes sense for them to make the cannons too." Blaze agreed with his eyes full of fire. "Son of a…who had the blueprints for that thing, and who did he give it to?!"

"Nevermind that!" Sky Eye cut across any retort. "All units, check your radars! The impact range will be shown"

Ribbon saw a wide red circle. "Stay clear of the Bullseye!" He practically yelled as his Spearhead accelerated away from the explosion radius. "These aren't the rounds I'm used to, alright." He says in an undertone.

"Impact in five…four…" Sky Eye counted.

…

"Why are they stopping?" One of Rau's wingmen asked.

Rau's bad feeling just reached a zenith. "Everyone! Drop! Now!"

…

"IMPACT!"

…

The sky lit up with massive explosions that engulfed a massive chunk of the ZAFT mobile suits and drop pods, leaving nothing but burning scrap metal in their place.

As a collateral, several of the EFA warships were also affected by the wake caused by the explosions, tipped over just a little too much, and capsized.

"Holy…" Kira breathed, feeling his heart seize up.

"We lost some of our guys too." Mu punched the side of his cockpit. "Damn it! What the hell are those guys thinking?!"

"Recall all of our crafts; we're heading back to the docks." Murrue commanded. "How's our damage?"

Sai scans through the report quickly. "The port side armor is behaving oddly, and some of the sensors have been knocked offline; nothing serious, though."

"Second wave incoming; get out, guys." Sky Eye warns.

"No mercy, I see." Cipher said coldly, his aircraft already back in the hangar for more missiles.

…

At this moment, Rau Le Cruset gained a very deep hatred for gravity, and the act of falling downwards toward solid surfaces.

"C'mon, c'mon." He muttered, going back to his piloting days a little. "Ok…just a little bit…"

His CGUE fell through the sky, trailing thick plumes of smoke. It then began to purge pieces of its armor while rotating to find the best way to keep itself from slamming into the ground hard enough to kill its pilot.

It mostly succeeded, and Rau's CGUE slammed into the ground hard enough to knock Rau unconscious, sliding and destroying a good stretch of trees.

…

"Second wave…Impact!"

The second wave of Stonehenge rounds wiped out what the first round missed, and the sky was clear of ZAFT drop pods and their mobile suits.

Blaze could only shake his head; his aircraft had suffered an electronics failure due to the pressure and was now floating gently on the water.

Kira stared intently into the sky, taking in the steel carnage and feeling his allegiance to the EFA erode with every passing second. He then noticed that one of the explosions looked as if it lingered in the sky.

"What the hell is that?" Mu wondered, noticing the explosion as well.

Sky Eye heard a ping on his radar. _What the…_ "There's a plane in that explosion?"

"I'll take a look." Ribbon ascended toward the explosion, and soon enough saw the outline of… "Mobius One to Sky Eye, it's a Raptor."

Sky Eye's eyebrow shot up (and so did every else's, but for different reasons). "Try to contact the pilot."

"Roger." Ribbon switched to a common frequency, and heard nothing.

He then took another look at the Raptor; it carried markings that he wasn't familiar with, and flipped around in the air with all the grace of a dead bird, being carried by the air rather than flying under its own power.

_Maybe the pilot is already dead. _"Unidentified Raptor, can you hear me?" Ribbon asked.

There was no reply, but the Raptor caught the air currents and began to fly more normally.

"This is…Raptor pilot, can you hear me? Respond." Ribbon was about to rattle off numbers but realized that doing so on a common frequency is probably a bad idea.

Still no reply, though the Raptor was now seemingly in control, despite the fact that it was smoking badly from its engines.

Ribbon then switched through the frequency codes given to him by Sky Eye (compiled by the rest of the Aces) for the Eurusean, Osean, ISAF, and Emmerian air forces, and got nothing.

Sky Eye then blinked. "Wait, I'm getting something. Switching…I don't recognize this pattern though."

"M…g…d…com…"

Sky Eye let the computer do the frequency tuning. "This is the ISAF AWACS operator Sky Eye, Raptor pilot, can you hear us?"

A pause. "Magic…magic, respond."

Sky Eye counted to five just in case the computer didn't get the frequency properly. "There's no magic here, pilot. What is your status?"

_No magic, right. _Ribbon thought despite himself.

Another pause. "This is NATO Task Squadron 108, Callsign Warwolf one."

"Copy you Warwolf; this is ISAF AWACS Sky Eye; what is your situation?"

"I…" a sigh. "I'm not sure. My plane is damaged, and I need to land."

Sky Eye looks at Murrue, who frowns and shrugs; weirder things have happened. "Roger that; Mobius One, guide Warwolf one to land on the Archangel."

"Got it." Ribbon said, flying in front of the Raptor to get the pilot's attention.

…

"So what brings you here, Warwolf one?" Ribbon asked.

"I don't know; a few minutes ago I was…this isn't the United States anymore, is it?" Warwolf One asked.

Ribbon never heard of it. "There's a United States of South America."

"Damn."

Ribbon felt as if Warwolf one said that all the time. "I hear ya; land and we can debrief you on the situation, it's that ship ahead."

"Warwolf."

…

[Archangel, a few minutes later]

…

Warwolf one climbed out of his F-22A Raptor dazedly, not realizing that the engines have actually caught fire while he was rolling to a stop (Murdoch was handling said fire with the hangar crew).

Murrue saw the grizzled man drop to the floor with a groan and stand back up again. She felt like she needed to salute. "I'm Murrue Ramius, Captain of the Archangel."

The man returned the salute half-heartedly, wincing in pain. "Lieutenant Colonel William Bishop of the United States Air Force."

The rest of the crew felt the need to salute back at the fact that they were being vastly outranked.

"Let's get you some medical treatment first." Murrue said hurriedly, as Bishop looked like he was about to collapse at any second.

…

[PLANT, 2 days later]

…

Patrick Zala stared at the replay data of the battle with something tantamount of "unrestrained fury".

"I suppose this was what they were hiding." Patrick said to the empty room. "Damned Naturals, building a weapon like this." He then pulled another image, one of the "suspicious hidden location" that Rau Le Cruset sent to him a few days before. "So where might this place be?"

He read a few more documents (all of them concerning the theoretical capability of the EFA weapon system) and came to the conclusion that nobody knew what the hell was going on and were trying to guess to the best of their ability.

"Agh." Patrick pressed a button. "We have all the satellites in space and nobody knows what the hell is going on."

…

[Panama base]

…

The ZAFT boys finished watching the video of Operation Spit Break, up to and including the drastic turnabout that was the result of the long range bombardment.

Dearka voiced everyone's thoughts first. "Yikes."

"When did they build something like this?" Yzak wonders. "And more importantly, why did the brass say nothing about it?"

"You think the Naturals built it entirely out of sight?" One of the other pilots in the room whispers to his friend.

"No way; we definitely would've seen it if they did." His friend whispers back.

Athrun scans the document that came with the video. "According to what the high command does know, this attack came from a stationary structure somewhere within the Northern America Territories." He grits his teeth. "But they don't have any more to go on than that."

"Shouldn't it be really close to Alaska then?" Dearka taps the map posted on the side of the room. "I don't think the Naturals could put something together with that much power totally out of our satellite coverage."

"And the northern territories _do_ have a lot of forests…" Yzak nods.

"Regardless, our orders don't change…but it might be a good idea to pay a little more attention to your patrols in the future." Athrun says, glancing at a pair of pilots at the back of the room.

"Yes sir." They say a little sheepishly.

…

[Archangel]

…

Mobius One punched a wall. "That was Stonehenge. Why the HELL does Stonehenge exist here?"

"What's Stonehenge?" Cipher asks.

"Erusean superweapon, built to shoot down asteroids." Blaze responds. "Back in Strangereal it gave Mobius One and the ISAF a lot of trouble until they finally took it out."

"Must be fate…I get to kill it here instead of back home." Mobius One snarls.

"Dude, calm down." Blaze says gently.

Ribbon takes a deep breath, not feeling calm in the least; for the past two days the fact that he was within striking range of the weapon that plagued his homeland has made Ribbon nearly impossible to be around.

"Uh…"

All of them turn toward the speaker.

Kira stood at the door of the officer lounge. "Bad time?"

Blaze's laugh was just a tad hollow. "A little bit; what's going on?"

"Uh, your mechanics finished the analysis on the plane the other guy flew in. They want Ribbon to check it out."

Ribbon wordlessly strode past Kira and stomped toward the hangars.

"Did…did something happen?" Kira had a hunch.

"That…thing." Blaze said hesitantly. "The thing that saved Alaska, is not a very good thing."

"It's…a massive gun, isn't it?" Kira frowns. "Why do they feel the need to make a weapon like that?"

_Good question. _The remaining aces all thought at once.

…

[Archangel Hangar]

…

"Ah, Mr. Ribbon. Good of you to make it." The Gründer head mechanic says in his slightly German-sounding English, raising a hand in greeting.

"What's going on?" Ribbon asks fairly amicably, his rage largely tapered off by the walk to the hangar.

"We finished analysis on this Raptor." The mechanic taps the fuselage of the F-22A. "It is faster than ours. It has a much more sophisticated missile stock system…and it has DFM."

There's a set of letters Ribbon didn't recognize. "What's DFM?"

The mechanic chuckles. "This thing called Dog Fight Module. It lets the computer fly behind the enemy for you…good technology, but bad in a big fight." The mechanic then sees someone behind Ribbon, and salutes.

Colonel Bishop salutes back. "Can my plane be repaired?"

The mechanic shakes his head no. "This world's military doesn't use air intakes, and we don't have the plans to make spare parts from scratch…your plane isn't flying again, so sorry."

"Damn." Bishop sighs. "So I really am in a different world after all."

"The Strike didn't tip you off?" Ribbon gestured to the Gundam in question.

"I had hope." Bishop replied.

"Now." The Gründer head mechanic claps his hands together. "I find this Raptor very interesting; I want to fly it back to headquarters and strip it down for technology."

Ribbon raises an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure the Archangel isn't moving again for a while…how are you going to get it back to Orb?"

The Mechanic points to a Super Spearhead behind him, with what looks like a glorified set of grapples mounted on top of the craft.

"Oh."

"Yes." The mechanic grins. "I need someone to fly it back to Orb though…outside the Fed's attention of course."

"It can't wait?" Bishop asked. "I mean…from the sound of things this base is still under high alert, if a plane left now it'll be shot down by our own people."

"They are not our people, but I see your meaning." The mechanic sighs. "Still. ASAP." He turns toward the plane, then suddenly swings around with a grin. "You, Colonel. You get to help me understand your plane."

Colonel Bishop glanced at Ribbon, who caught his eye and shrugged. "Very well…I don't think I'll be going home any time soon."

…

[Somewhere]

…

A man savagely beats a table, angry at the other man sitting in the shadows.

"Who told you to use Stonehenge?! We haven't properly fortified it yet!" The table-hating man snarls.

"It was a necessity." The other man replies as calmly as he can manage. A small part of his mind registered the currently flipped emotional roles: he was the calm and collected one for a change.

"A necessity?! Josh-A was under no danger!" The man pulled up a series of images. "Look!"

The second man saw the insignias of Blaze, Cipher, Ribbon, and Talisman. "I don't understand."

The table-hating man smashed his fist onto the table. "Your base was under the protection of the four greatest Ace of Aces in the history of mankind, what kind of dangers could you have _possibly _faced when they're in the skies?!"

The second man was cowed, but maintained an outward image of calmness. "Accidents can happen in battles."

"No, really?" The first man snapped. "Because of your actions you almost killed your own base… Goddamn idiots."

"I think what we need to focus on now is what do we do from here." A third man said, entering the room.

The table-hating man sighed. "Stonehenge Unit One is prioritizing its low level anti-air defenses…Thanks to this moron the only weapons they can field are weapons they can make from their on-site factories."

The third man nodded. "What of the others?"

The second man looked around. "Wait, what others? You made more than one?!"

The first man understood. "Unit two has all of its pieces in place…assembly is almost done and all defensive assets are in place. Unit three is entirely operational, but until we move on to Phase two of our plan it's mothballed."

"What plan? What are you two talking about?!" The second man demanded.

"In the end, not a smart guy." The third man laughed.

The second man rose to retort and then he felt his legs give away. The last thing he saw was the ground rising up to meet him.

"What about them?" The first man asked, gesturing to the image projected on the television of the four Aces of Strangereal.

"If our plan works well, then we won't have to worry about them." The third man smirks. "Do you have the intel?"

The first man held up a thick stack of papers. "It's a good thing we found someone who enjoys doing things the old way." He shuffled the thick stack of papers into a drawer in the room.

"Indeed." The third man chuckled, and tossed the ZAFT-army knife (crudely made) into the second man's pooling blood. "Later, General." He waves to the second man.

The two of them leaves the room in its neat and organized state, save for the corpse and the slightly rustled cabinet drawer.

…

…

[Archangel, one week later]

…

…

The Strike Gundam zoomed through the sky over Josh-A, surveying the lush, tree-laden landscape below it.

"Strike one reporting in, nothing out of the ordinary today." Kira sighed.

"Understood, Strike one, return to base once your patrol route is complete." Sky Eye responded. "Why are we patrolling the sky with a prototype machine again?" He muttered.

"Don't worry about it." Mu La Flaga chuckled, making himself comfortable in the bridge; he and Kira were alternating patrols per the high command's orders. "At least they're not letting our Ace of Aces do the hard work."

High command had considered reassigning the four Aces of Strangereal to other bases within the EFA (in order to both efficiently use their experience and prevent any kind of unfortunate circumstances in case the Aces really were Coordinators) but something had caused them to reconsider, and as such now the recruits in Josh-A were getting a crash course in piloting.

Fortunately, this batch was a lot more obedient and respectful than the ones on Artemis, and as a result their training is going by a lot faster (it also helps that the Razgriz are better atmospheric pilots than zero-G ones)

"Which reminds me." Sky Eye turned toward Mu. "Josh-A is the headquarters for the entire Federation force, right?"

Mu nods. "For all of its Earthbound assets, yeah. What about it?"

Sky Eye frowns. "What kind of headquarters rely on green recruits for its defense?"

Mu thought for a moment. "The kind that protects itself from hundreds of miles away with a giant cannon?" He said.

"Speaking of that giant cannon," Murrue spoke up. "Do you know anything about it? When Ribbon came back he looked like he was about to kill someone."

Sky Eye sighed. "I know about as much about it as you do, which is to say, not a lot."

"Oh." Miriallia exclaimed softly. "That's pretty neat."

"Hm?" Murrue turned towards the girl.

"Take a look at this." Miriallia brought a video up onto the Archangel's main screen. It depicted the ongoing war in the Equatorial Union, with one major difference.

Natarle blinked as a Spearhead with a bright yellow 13 painted on its tail zoomed past the camera. "So that's where they went."

"They work fast, that's for sure." Mu laughed, inwardly a bit jealous that Yellow 13 did such a close fly-by of a television station helicopter.

"Captain Bartlett is there too." Miriallia smiles. "Thanks to them, the EU is gaining ground fast against the Rebels."

"Good…the sooner we end that stupid war, the better." Mu grumbles.

…

Kira, on his way back from the patrol, suddenly stopped in mid-air.

"Strike One, did something happen?" Sky Eye asked, bringing the bridge back up to full alert.

"I thought I saw something…" Kira trailed off. He peered intently at a spot in the visual monitor, unable to be sure if it was a trick of the light or if he actually saw something. _The infrared and radars aren't picking anything up…so what's making me feel so odd?_

…

Miriallia, once again, was distracted by an incoming message.

"What in the…" She muttered once she read it through. "Captain Ramius, there's a priority one communication from…someone."

"Someone?" Murrue repeated. "Who's someone?"

"No idea; there's no location data at all."

"What's the message?" Mu asks.

"Uh…" Miriallia stares at the message again. "Hamelin."

"The Pied Piper story?" Murrue frowns. "Who the hell sends a one-word riddle in a priority one message?"

"Someone with a lot of money and an excess of time." Mu grumbles. "What do you think it means?"

Murrue thinks for a minute. "Best guess? The sender wants us to get out while we can."

Mu's eyebrow went up. "Get out of where? Josh-A?"

_Get out of the EFA, most likely. _Sky Eye thought. "This is probably the same person who told us about the ZAFT attack on Josh-A."

"Our guardian angel is telling us to get out while the gettin's good, huh…" Mu says, a grin playing on the corners of his mouth. "Think we should follow it?"

Natarle shot him a hard look. "We have our orders, and it would be remiss for us to desert based on just a message."

"Who said anything about deserting?" Mu laughed, though he himself came to the same conclusion.

…

Kira, unable to shake the weird feeling, looked up.

"Holy…"

"What? What is it?" Miriallia, having heard Kira, asked.

"Why is nobody seeing this?!" Kira demanded. "Archangel, battlestations!"

"Kira, what's going on!?" Murrue demanded in return.

…

[PLANT]

…

Patrick Zala restrained himself from clapping his hands like a gleeful little boy.

"Operation Spit-Break is go. All units, decimate the Naturals!"

...

[Josh-A]

…

"Guys! ZAFT just threw a pair of cruisers at us!" Kira yelled, willing his Strike to move faster toward the base entrance.

"What the hell...what's that supposed to mean?!" Blaze demanded.

Kira tried to shake the image from his head. "I mean, ZAFT dropped two of their cruisers from orbit at us!"

The entire Archangel crew went quiet, forced to imagine what it's like.

Most of them failed.

"Why the hell would they do that?!" Cipher demanded. "That's stupid!"

"You're telling me!" Kira was momentarily thankful that the Archangel was shielded by the waterfall and was inside the base still, instead of being outside like he wanted.

"Getting live camera feed from Josh-A…now." Sai said.

The Archangel main screen came to life and focused upon a pair of very large and blue-looking blots in the sky. Large, blue, and trailing an absurd amount of smoke.

"Holy shit ZAFT went insane." Mu said as he scrambled into his Skygrasper.

"Why has base command not noticed yet?" Miriallia wondered.

"Who the hell cares?" Murrue snapped. "Warm up our engines, we're getting out of here."

"Aye, ma'am."

The Archangel's engines kicked into full gear, and Josh-A's air raid sirens went off full blast.

"Holy…holy shit." Mu repeated, seeing the sheer number of heat signatures appear from around the two descending cruisers.

…

[ZAFT ships, orbit]

…

"The enemy's artillery will be firing at any minute now, keep your eyes on those satellites!" The ship captain ordered.

…

[Skies over Josh-A]

…

One of the ZAFT captains using the cruiser as a heat shield heard a ping in his ear.

"They're gonna shoot any time now, keep your eyes open!"

…

[EFA side]

…

Murrue heard a voice, the same one from before. "All units, stay clear of impact area, we're commencing long range supporting fire."

"Stonehenge incoming." Sky Eye said, feeling a little uncomfortable at regarding Stonehenge as a friendly asset. "Estimated time to impact, thirty seconds."

…

"…and…impact!"

A series of explosions engulfed the two descending cruisers, reducing one of them into a million pieces of shrapnel.

…

[Space]

…

"We have a fix on their position!" One of the ship operators yelled. "Transmitting coordinates to ground troops now."

"Do we have a visual feed?" Patrick Zala asked.

Another operator nodded. "Coming on screen from satellite 22-B, right about…now."

"Christ…" Patrick breathed, seeing the distinctive, eight turret ring of Stonehenge outlined against the ground and dwarfing the nearby buildings for a moment before it shimmered out of existence again.

…

[Archangel]

…

"One enemy ship destroyed…the second one is dropping far too fast." Sai said, alarmed. "Oh…it's going to crash into the base!"

"All hands, brace," Murrue said into the intercom. "Get rolling; we don't want to be buried in the base if the ceiling caves on us."

…

The alive ZAFT cruiser, moving fast (propelled by the shockwave of the Stonehenge blast) slams into the waterfall front door of Josh-A with surprising accuracy. The resulting impact tore a piece of the ceiling down, causing water to flow into the base at a worrying rate.

As a side effect, the attack blasted the reinforced doors wide open; at no point was the reinforced steel gate of Josh-A tested against the impact force of an attack dealt from orbit.

"Oh hell, the base is flooding." Sai breathed.

"Doesn't bother us any." Murrue said savagely. "Get us out of here!"

Neuman nods.

…

…

"Whoa, they're coming out!" the ZAFT captain said. "Watch yourselves! Stay on the defensive until this bombardment ceases!"

…

"Stonehenge attacks are effective." Sky Eye said. "Twenty percent of ZAFT forces neutralized."

The broken and torn gates of Josh-A glowed red as the Archangel blasted away the remaining pieces with its Gottfried main guns, clearing a path for both itself and the other ships in the dock.

"What are we going to do, captain? Protect the base?" Blaze asked.

"I don't think we're going to have that luxury." Natarle said. "Look at the radar."

"Good god." Sai breathed, seeing nothing but red on his radar. "I think…we might have to run."

"Stonehenge has gone silent." Sky Eye suddenly said. "There's no more bombardment data being sent."

…

[Stonehenge ring]

…

Shortly after the first round of fire, Stonehenge's long distance radar showed a swarm of blips headed toward their direction.

Shortly after the second round of fire, those blips revealed what they were: cruise missiles fired from ZAFT submarines.

In order to destroy the first (and incomplete) Stonehenge installation, ZAFT had pooled all of their submarine assets and long range cruise missiles currently available on Earth (not to mention tasking as many satellites as physically possible to monitor the territory of Canada) with the sole intention of killing whatever the artillery platform was back to the stone age.

And they tried.

After the third volley from Stonehenge, EFA interceptors were brought online in an attempt to shoot down the cruise missiles.

It didn't work.

After the fourth volley, the lack of point defense weapons to protect the cannons from fire proved to be fatal. The cruise missile volley blanketed the Stonehenge circle, hitting every meter of the 1200 kilometer installation to the best of their ability.

Three of the eight turrets were immediately hit and destroyed, and an additional two more had their barrels warped beyond use.

"I see the targets, moving to attack." Athrun said, furious at the Naturals for making a weapon of this scope seemingly for the express purpose of killing Coordinators.

Athrun's DINN (inherent flight, beetle-like wings) zoomed over the snowy grasslands, its pilot not registering the sheer amount of damage done to the environment in order to give the installation its element of stealth.

"In range." Athrun muttered, and armed all of his missiles, locking on to the steam vent of one of the Stonehenge cannons. "Firing!"

A salvo of missiles struck the cannon's heat vent, ripping the vent open but otherwise not really damaging the cannon any.

"Focus on taking out their barrels." Dearka said, flying closer than his normal sniping range in order to properly hit said barrels. "If those things aren't straight then they can't fire at us!"

"Easier said than done…!" Yzak growled, annoyed that his heat seekers were being foiled by the near-constant belch of steam around the cannon.

"Oh hell." Dearka cut the engines on his DINN upon seeing one of the massive guns rotate towards his general direction.

"Don't let up. We need to destroy this thing!" Athrun roars, bringing out the DINN's shotgun.

…

…

[Elsewhere]

…

…

The two men from the previous meeting sat themselves down at a round table.

"Gentlemen, how goes our mission within the Federation?" One of the other men asked.

The first man from before (the table-hater) bowed his head. "Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to make some changes…namely, the sacrifice of the first Stonehenge defense system."

Another one of the other men turned slightly. "We're abandoning it only days after it becomes operational; are you not moving too quickly?" His tone was accusing at best.

"It is an unfortunate necessity." The table-hating man said sadly. "Sacrifices must be made in order to continue our plan, and the turret is better off lost for us."

"I suppose you plan to let it do SOMETHING before losing the installation in its entirety." Another man growled.

The accomplice of the table-hater chuckled. "Oh, it wouldn't be a sacrifice if we didn't."

…

…

[Stonehenge Unit 01]

…

…

"Got them. All turrets are down!" Athrun yells in triumph as the last Stonehenge cannon falls silent, its barrel twisted and useless.

"Good thing, too; we're out of ammo." Dearka breathed a sigh of relief, then switched to a different channel. "Captain, how long until the reinforcements get here?"

The submarine captain tasked with reinforcing the three of them glances at a map. "The fastest guys will reach you three in about fifteen minutes."

"Whew." Yzak cut the thrust on his DINN, letting it drop to the ground softly.

"A little much for you, Yzak?" Athrun teases.

"We just killed the largest anti-drop weapon the Naturals have ever faced, and we managed to do it a week after they brought it online." Yzak mutters. "Athrun, if you built something like this, would you just leave it undefended like that?"

Athrun thought back to the sheer lack of point-defense and interceptor aircraft they met for a base this size. "Yeah, I agree. There should be way more guards than what we've met."

"Hm?" Dearka saw a movement in the corner of his eye, and turned to look.

The center pedestal of the Stonehenge installation (which was not, incidentally, equipped with a jamming system) opened up. Before Dearka could open his mouth, a plume of fire erupted from within the belly of the installation and something flew up and away from the opening.

"What the…Athrun! Look!"

Athrun didn't need the prompt, as he heard the roar of the thing escaping them at high speed. "Oh shit." He breathed. "The Naturals just launched an ICBM!"

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes:

Still in time for Valentine's Day (2015).

Single Awareness Day forever!


	17. Stage 15 - The Battle of JOSH-A

[Skies over JOSH-A]

"What just happened?!" One of the ZAFT Captains demanded upon hearing the panic over the radio. "What's going on?!"

The operator manning the station jumped in surprise, not realizing that he had left the line open. "Th-the enemy defensive station launched an ICBM!"

The Captain's eyes widened with shock and confusion. "The hell?! They can't use nukes! We took care of that!"

"It wasn't a nuke! Whatever the hell it was it wasn't a nuke!"

Another operator's voice was picked up by the microphone. "ICBM on course for Panama base! Alert the base!"

"We don't have a comsat in position!" The first operator yelled (into the mike, making the captain wince). "It's a not a nuke, it's not a nuke." He then said hurriedly to himself, trying to calm down. "For god's sake it's not a nuke…!"

…

[Panama Base]

…

Through a line of pure, accidental chance, one of the shipboard operators in orbit around Earth alerted Panama base about the impending missile attack.

Unfortunately, the alert wasn't enough.

While the DINNs were being deployed, the ICBM they were supposed to intercept struck the base.

The explosion of the ICBM tore into the compound, shattering the hangars and the DINNs housed within. Even the reinforced command center stood no chance, blown away by the awesome force of the missile combined with the ignited ammunition stores (both Federation and ZAFT).

The light of the explosion could be seen for miles, and the resulting shockwave tore through the trees, jungles, and the mass driver that made Panama base one of the EFA's primary (if not only) way into space.

As expected, the resulting waves of the ammunition-plus-ICBM explosion struck the mass driver like a sledgehammer, shaking the frame of the large cannon, bringing it to near collapse, before an explosion-induced wall of water slammed into it and folded the Mass Driver into the ocean.

…

[JOSH-A]

…

"Did…did you guys just feel that?" Talisman breathed.

"Something…something big just went off." Blaze growled. "Bridge! What just happened!?"

"Stonhenge has been lost, and…" Neil's face went white upon hearing the intercepted ZAFT communications. "Panama base has been struck by an ICBM originating from the Stonehenge site."

There was a momentary silence.

"WHAT?!" Ribbon resisted the urge to punch something, as he's sitting in his cockpit. "Why the hell would we nuke our own base!?"

"It's not a nuke, that's not possible." Neil said dazedly. "The base is gone. ZAFT is getting no communications from it anymore. No primary, no secondary, nothing." He clicked off of the patched line into ZAFT's communications, unable to listen to the operators frantically trying to reconnect with the now vanished base for any longer.

"We…we need to get up here." Blaze said suddenly and hurriedly. "Captain Ramius, give us the orders to sortie."

"There's a goddamn cloud of ZAFT units up there!" Sai shouted. "We should just get the hell out of here!"

"Oy!" Natarle snapped. "Watch your mouth, Sai!"

"Screw it." Cipher snapped. "This is Galm one, I'm deploying; Murdoch, open the damn door."

"Cipher! The hell are you-" Murdoch started to say.

"I'm not playing with a military that bombs its own people." Cipher cut across him. "Murdoch, open the hangar door or I'll doing it for you."

"I'm with Cipher on this one, I'm afraid." Ribbon muttered. "If the EFA feels ok about bombing the hell out of its own people then I'm jumping ship."

"Razgriz three, what are you saying?!" Natarle exclaimed. "We would never sacrifice our own forces to advance our own cause!"

"Bullshit!" Cipher snarled. "I'm heading out." Murdoch had opened the Archangel's hangar doors in order to protect the ship (and his own sleep schedule).

"Cipher! Wait!" Murrue Ramius said hurriedly.

"Galm One, heading out." Cipher said coldly, launching out of the Archangel without assistance from the catapult.

"Mobius One, taking off." Ribbon echoed, doing the same.

Blaze gnashed his teeth. "Ah, hell. Razgriz one, launching."

"Razgriz Four, deploying; we're still going to protect the ship." Talisman said stubbornly.

"Yeah." Kira nodded. "Strike, heading out."

"Goddammit, the two of you!" Mu said. "We're got something more immediate to worry about! Mu La Flaga, deploying!"

"Quit setting my catapult on fire!" Murdoch groaned.

…

Four Spearheads, one Aile Strike Gundam, and one Launcher Skygrasper deployed from the Archangel's hangar legs, along with a flock of Spearheads deployed from the rest of the Federation warships.

…

"I can't believe it…" The ZAFT captain breathed. "All units! Burn them to the ground! Avenge our comrades and theirs in equal measure!"

Prior to its destruction, Panama base still held many of its previous EFA staff as Prisoners of War.

"Naturals! You don't even care about your own countrymen!" One of the pilots yelled on an open frequency. "This is your divine punishment!" The pilot emphasized her roar with firing a round from the GINN's recoilless rifle (the bazooka).

Her shot was then echoed and accompanied by a veritable blanket of shots from the rest of the ZAFT pilots.

"Intercept! Shoot them down!" Murrue ordered, and the anti-aircraft fire from the warships rose to meet the incoming torrent of poorly named ZAFT ballistic rounds.

As expected, the effect was less than desirable; many rounds were intercepted, but many more slammed into the waters and the ships themselves.

The resulting explosions looked as if they set the water ablaze.

"Catapult one destroyed!" Sai reported. "Gottfried Number one is offline!"

"Maydays from Arksanas Escorts number 1, 5, 9 and 12!" Miriallia reported in a panic. "Des Moines ships 1, 3, and 6 sunk!"

"Half of our ships in one go…" Murrue breathed.

"Remainder of the ships, focus your efforts on protecting the Spengler carriers!" Mu roared on an open frequency, ignoring the smattering of acknowledgements in reply. "This is just not my day!" He seethed as he aimed the AGNI cannon into the cloud of descending GINNs and fired at random.

Kira gritted his teeth, focused on taking down a swarm of anti-ship missiles from a squad of GINNs with his head-mounted Vulcans. "Stop! This isn't the time to be fighting!" He yelled, taking aim at the GINNs with his beam rifle and systematically shooting their heads off with precisely aimed fire.

"Ah! Shit!" Sai flinched as the Archangel shook again. "Portside Valiant, hit! It's on fire!"

"What are our orders, captain?" Natarle asked as calmly as she could, ignoring the burning GINN that dropped almost on top of the Archangel (it was too far forward and slammed into the water instead).

"Our orders are to protect the base." Murrue said through gritted teeth. "Don't falter! Take them out!"

"Second defensive fleet is clear from the base entrance." Miriallia reported, letting out the breath she was holding. "They're deploying interceptors."

Meanwhile, Cipher and Mobius One were busy tearing their way through the ZAFT's GINN cloud with their ElectroMagnetic Launchers and their Vulcans, ripping out arms and separating legs from the ZAFT mobile suits with practiced ease.

"Oy! Assholes! We're just trying to leave, goddammit!" Cipher yelled into a ZAFT frequency (courtesy of Sky Eye).

"We're not letting the likes of you leave!" One ZAFT pilot retorted, charging toward the Spearhead with the GINN's sword drawn.

As the GINN took its swing, Cipher inverted his aircraft and pumped the VTOL engines, causing the swing to strike nothing but air as the Spearhead zipped neatly between the GINN's legs.

"Like you have a choice." Mobius One said coldly (to himself) as the GINN turned to engage Cipher once again. The GINN then met its end via an EML shot in the back right into the cockpit block.

"Galm one, the rest of the GINNs is falling out of reach." Mobius One said, banking his aircraft a little to look at the DINNs landing on the riverbanks. "We could probably reach Orb from here." He added lightly, watching the streaks of fire fly from the GINNs to the Fed warships.

Cipher simply scowled and said nothing.

Mobius One knew that Cipher wasn't one to change his allegiances so easily. (He himself wasn't either). "We could help the fleet get out of here, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Cipher growled, circling around high in the sky.

…

"This is hell and a half." Blaze said as he zipped past the Archangel's port side with his Vulcans blazing, shooting down a barrage of bazooka fire with Talisman flying on his wing, following and supporting his actions.

The Archangel's Igelstellung anti-aircraft guns intercepted most of the rest. "Hit on the port side! We have a hull leak on deck two!" Sai reported.

"Compensate with the engines!" Murrue ordered as a group of GINNs appeared on the bridge's main screen. "What's the rest of the fleet doing?"

"Third wave has deployed!" Miriallia reported as the displayed GINNs suffered from a barrage of warship shells and exploded. "We're slowly gaining air coverage!"

The Archangel shook again. "Engine six, hit!" Sai reported. "We're listing again!"

"Dammit!" Mu sighted the trio of GINNs responsible for strafing the engine as they zipped between the wreckage of other Federation ships. "Let us catch a break!" He yelled as he depressed the trigger, unleashing a blast from his AGNI cannon that tore the GINNs (and one of the Des Moines ship wreckage) to pieces.

"Assist the Archangel!" One of the Faceless Federation Captains ordered as his Arkansas class Cruiser used itself as a shield for the comparatively much taller Archangel while spraying the air with its load out of anti-aircraft weaponry.

"Oh hell. Second ZAFT wave dropping from orbit! Estimated unit count, 50!" Sai said.

"Razgriz, intercept!" Sky Eye ordered.

"Roger!" Blaze and Talisman said, deploying from the second, undamaged catapult after returning for ammunition for the third time.

"Oy! Stop throwing a hissy fit and lend us a hand!" Blaze yelled to Cipher.

Cipher's response was to point his Spearhead's nose south…and exit the battlefield, with Mobius One in tow.

"JOSH-A anti-aircraft fire away." Sky Eye warned.

"Son of a…Cipher! Ribbon!" Blaze roared, ignoring both the dropping ZAFT forces and the rising EFA intercepting shots. "Where the hell do you think you're going?!"

_I can understand Cipher leaving. _Talisman thought. _He's a mercenary at heart, and he won't fight if his employers are actively trying to kill him…but I don't get why Mobius One is leaving too…or, rather, I don't understand why Blaze isn't jumping ship, given the Razgriz's history._

"Exactly what you think I'm doing." Cipher said coldly, noting that Blaze was on full afterburners to reach him, and slowing down as a result.

"This is desertion." Blaze snarled. "I know I'm not in any position to care, but at the same time, people are dying down there!"

"Whose fault is that, I wonder?" Cipher sighed.

Blaze slowed down as well when he realized that Cipher was slowing down to meet him. "Wardog leader to Galm One. Breaking away from my squadron will be regarded as an act of treason, and I'll deal with it appropriately."

_Oh shit. _Talisman thought.

"Try me." Cipher grinned.

Cipher inverted and dove just as Blaze fired a barrage from his Vulcans. Seeing Cipher's maneuver, Blaze inverted and followed him down.

…

"Uh, Cipher and Blaze are fighting." Tolle said in a slightly higher voice.

Sky Eye facepalmed. "Goddammit. Mobius One, what are you doing?"

"I cannot condone fighting alongside a nation that freely sacrifices its own people to further its ideals." Ribbon said sadly. "Thus, I'm afraid I'll be exiting the battlefield as well…this is the proverbial final straw."

"Is this really the time to be talking about this?!" Kira demanded, separating a GINN from its arms with his beam sabers. "The Archangel's going to sink at this rate!"

"I am aware." Mobius One said calmly.

"You're just going to sit and watch…?!" Talisman's eyes went wide.

"Second ZAFT wave, deployed! They're firing!" Sai said.

Ribbon weaved through the descending ZAFT GINNS and their machine gun fire. "Sorry, but my ideals don't line up with those of your higher-ups." He sighed. _Plus, there's something strange about this entire war. _He thought to himself. _And I can't investigate it while being tied to the ship…as long as the ship is tied down to this dock._

"Dammit! Ribbon!" Talisman yelled, but it was to no avail: Mobius One had hit full afterburners and zoomed away from the battlefield.

"Ha!" A ZAFT captain laughed. "Even the demons don't want anything to do with the EFA!"

"Demons or no, I'm still here!" Kira roared, feeling the sense of otherworldly focus again and firing into the ZAFT units in the sky with pinpoint accuracy.

Unfortunately, the Strike doesn't have infinite power, and not a minute after he attained that unnatural focus his cockpit kindly alerted him of his quickly dwindling energy supply.

"Dammit." Kira muttered, his super focus gone. "This is Kira, I'm returning to resupply."

"Got it; be careful." Murrue said as the Strike Gundam's armor turned into its dull gray color. "Tolle, can you provide him support?"

"Uh, yeah, I can. Sure." Tolle said distractedly as he rose from his seat.

Murrue then stared at one of the displays showing the current balance of power. _We're losing air control again._

More than a few spiraling, burning Spearheads featured prominently on the main screen drove her point home. "How's the current spread of forces?" Murrue asked.

"We've lost about 30% of our Spearheads, and ZAFT has lost maybe a quarter of their GINNs. It also doesn't help that we've deployed more." Sai said then gritted his teeth as the Archangel shook again. "Hit on the starboard side! We've lost two anti-air guns!" Sai said, not bothering to pronounce the weirdly named guns.

"Dammit. Pull the Archangel back!" Natarle ordered, glancing at the Arkansas cruiser that moved to protect them, before focusing her attention away from that ship's burning bridge and slowly sinking hull.

…

"Kira, you ok up there?" Tolle asked as he hopped into the second Skygrasper.

"Yeah, I think so." Kira said, suddenly feeling very tired as the adrenaline levels faded off a bit. "It's a mess out there."

"Tell me about it." Tolle sighed, his mind filled with the various streaks of colors of the battlefield as viewed from a wide distance.

Kira looked at the Skygrasper taxing to the catapult. "Did Murrue order you to launch?"

Tolle flashed a thumbs-up, even though Kira couldn't see it. "Yep! I'll be flying support for ya, Kira."

Kira frowned. "Don't get too cocky out there."

Tolle grinned. "You know me; Swordgrasper, heading out!"

…

Several of the GINNs on the battlefield turned to see two blurs heading toward them at an obnoxiously high speed.

Those same GINNs felt the impact force of the Vulcans being fired by the second Spearhead toward the first as both Spearheads flew past the GINNs close enough for the ZAFT pilots to simply reach out and grab them.

"What's with those guys?!" One of the GINN pilots demanded as one of the Spearheads performed a barrel roll, positioning itself behind the second Spearhead. "Aren't they on the same side?"

"Not the Demon Lord for nothing." Blaze said, turning sharply to avoid being shot down by Cipher. "I haven't even gotten a single hit in yet."

"You're wasting a lot of my energy." Cipher growled, firing his last missile at Blaze before pulling up and away from Blaze's Spearhead. "And not doing a lot in return."

"Yeah? I think I did alright." Blaze grinned; through their dogfight, at least a good two dozen GINNs were taken out of commission due to the collateral damage of the two ace pilots trying to hit each other. "If you're out of gas you can always land on the ship for a resupply; we'll even give you a discount." Blaze pumped his VTOL engines, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris that detonated the missile, and then pulled up as well, intent on chasing Cipher down.

…

"Sky Eye to all allied forces." Neil's voice came over the radio. "New ZAFT contacts approaching from the Southeast and Southwest; DINNs incoming."

"About time, I suppose." Talisman took a moment to observe the battlefield.

Damaged GINNs and destroyed GINN parts littered the shorelines along with many, many downed Spearheads (those that managed to crash, anyways) surrounding JOSH-A's destroyed waterfall entrance. The waterways themselves are cluttered with the smoking remains of Federation warships that remained afloat, as well as the smoke plumes of many more that sank to the bottom of the river.

The GINNs that remain were continuing the attack, pelting the base entrance as well as most of the remaining ships with their bazooka and machine gun fire, but were met with stiff resistance from the Spearheads and tanks finally being deployed en-masse from within the base.

Having eventually learned from their abysmal performance against mobile suits, the EFA's answer to making their land-based mobile armor more useful was simply "just strap some more missiles onto it." Thus, regardless of the maneuverability of the GINNs or their targeting ability, the sheer weight of the EFA missile barrage was enough to push the GINNs back step by step.

"So did we win?" Mu asked with a heavy sigh, his Skygrasper back in the Archangel for resupply.

"One hell of a victory if we did." Kira muttered, taking pot shots at the GINNs on the ground with his beam rifle.

"Kira, we got more ZAFT goons coming." Tolle reminded him. "Might be a good time to stop mopping up the GINNs."

Kira scanned the skies and nodded. "Got it; I'll leave the cleanup to you then, Tolle."

"You got it." Tolle grinned, and pointed his Spearhead toward the ground.

…

[EFA territory of Alaska, coastline]

…

"Athrun, how about we just call it a day?" Dearka asked with no small amount of hope in his voice. "We can just cite mechanical error and not go to the Federation deathtrap."

"Dearka, that kind of talk is improper for a red." Yzak chided him. "That being said, I echo his sentiment; we've spent a lot of resources to take JOSH-A, and they've made no real headway. I don't see how pooling even more resources into it will help any."

"See? Yzak sees what's up." Dearka says. "Let's just stay home."

"Enough talking, kids." The ZAFT lead mechanic said. "I'm not writing your doctor's note."

"Dammit." Dearka said sadly as his DINN was loaded onto the submarine's catapult. "Well, so much for that. Dearka, heading out!"

…

"That's…a ZAFT submarine." Cipher muttered, watching three DINNs deploy from the vertical catapult barely visible against the ocean surface. "What's it doing alone all the way out here?"

Cipher almost decided to engage the submarine, but then realized that the dogfight with Blaze ate all of his ammunition. "That's unfortunate, I guess." He murmured, staying above the clouds to avoid visual detection.

…

Ribbon, on the other hand, was flying in the general direction of Orb, and met the ZAFT DINN reinforcements head on.

Seeing the Spearhead, the DINNs naturally fanned out to engage.

Seeing the infinity symbol on the tail of the Spearheads caused the DINNs to unleash their missiles upon the lone target.

Mobius One gritted his teeth and put full power into the engines, weaving through the net of missiles with not a single shot fired.

"Is…is he seriously outrunning the missile lock?!" One of the ZAFT pilots exclaimed.

"Who cares?! Shoot him!" His wingman yelled as he pulled out the DINN's shotgun and fired a few rounds toward the Ribbon Spearhead.

"I don't need this right now, ZAFT people!" Mobius One snarled.

Bartlett's voice came over his radio. "Yo, Ribbon. Dive for the deck now."

Mobius One didn't question why and dove sharply as Bartlett advised.

"What the…" A ZAFT pilot muttered, and then took the cue from Ribbon. "Crap, dive now!"

"Too late for that, boys!" Captain Bartlett laughed, leading a squadron of X-02 Wyverns armed with Belkan-made EMLs.

Regardless of how quickly the ZAFT DINNs could dive, they weren't a match for the Wyverns' ripple fire into their ranks or their superior battlefield position, and very quickly the skies were clear of the purple-beetle like mobile suits.

"You alright there, Ribbon?" Bartlett asked, as Mobius One pulled up to fly on his wing. "You're flying pretty far out from the Archangel."

"I quit." Ribbon said tersely. "More importantly, where did you come from?"

"Giga Float." Bartlett replied. "We're currently under the employment of the Gründer branch on the Giga Float; they saw the ICBM attack on TV and sent us to investigate; I take you're bailing on the EFA because of it."

Ribbon nodded, looking around at the Wyverns flying in formation. "Yeah. Nevermind how evil the EFA appears I don't believe that they will do something like this without some kind of provocation." _Where did he get these guys? _He wondered.

"And you don't think losing Panama counts as provocation?" Bartlett frowned.

Ribbon nodded. "Right; I don't believe the EFA is capable of actively trying to lose the war."

"Hmm." Bartlett leaned back, letting his X-02's autopilot do the work for him a little. "Well, you're always welcome to stay with us for as long as you please."

"Who's 'us'?" Ribbon asked, and could feel Bartlett's grin without seeing it.

"You'll see when we get home, Mobius One."

…

[Near Josh-A]

…

"Athrun, we've received new orders." Yzak said.

"Yeah, I see it." Athrun replied, seeing the new order display on his screen.

"They want us to cover the remainder of the ZAFT forces as they retreat…?" Dearka frowned. "Damn, it's that bad?"

"We're attacking the nerve center of the Natural's Military, of course they're going to put up a fight." Yzak said. "Still, I can't help but think this is because of that legged ship."

"And the demons that reside within, huh…" Athrun mused. "All units, fan out and focus on providing covering fire to our retreating units."

"Wish we had our squadrons here right now." Yzak growled.

Dearka's laugh sounded empty. "With any luck they would've gotten away from Panama."

Athrun then heard his threat radar go off. "One enemy unit sighted…signature match; it's the Strike!"

"Ah shit." Dearka spat. "What do we do? Pretty sure we can't outfight it without beam weapons."

"Stick to the plan." Athrun said. "Cover the GINNs until they get to the coastline."

…

"I see three DINNs." Kira reported, having chased the GINNs that ran away (since they ran in the same direction. "Should I engage?" He asked the bridge.

"Given the circumstances…" Murrue sighed. "If they're not picking a fight, don't chase them out too far." She then turned her attention to the fleet of tugs being deployed from the base. "The first retrieval fleet should cover the west side, second fleet, go to area 14 and focus on recovering personnel…"

…

"He's not attacking." Athrun remarked.

"Good for us then." Yzak shrugged. "All remaining ground units hurry up with the retreat."

"But what about the downed pilots?" One of the Faceless ZAFT Pilots asked.

"We don't have the luxury." Yzak said coldly. "Now get moving while he's still just standing around."

…

…

"I can't believe Cipher and Ribbon both left." Blaze grumbled.

"Yeah." Talisman sighed.

Blaze had returned to the Archangel in high spirits, under the belief that he was able to fight the famed Demon Lord of the Round Table to a standstill. A thorough examination of his aircraft by the mechanics proved otherwise.

Of course, seeing the Archangel barely afloat didn't help his spirits either.

"Good thing you two flew together as a squadron, no?" The Gründer head mechanic had chuckled.

Blaze pushed the images of the bullet scratches on his fuselage out of his mind. "Yeah, I can't imagine what would've happened if he really thought us as his enemies."

"'Demon Lord of the Round Table.'" Talisman looked up at the officer lounge's ceiling. "Famed for his peerless flying and his steadfast loyalty to a cause despite his status as a mere mercenary…has betrayed our cause." He laughs. "Maybe that's an amazingly bad sign for us."

"Well…I suppose it helps to keep mercenaries loyal when you're paying top dollar to keep them around." Blaze grunted. "Hell, it's not like the EFA hasn't crossed lines before, what made this time different?"

…

[EFA Territory of North America]

…

"I'm running out of fuel, as expected." Cipher muttered. "Hm?"

A mysterious voice came over the radio. "To the Spearhead flying in our airspace, identify yourself." The voice was scrambled and impossible to read.

Cipher did a little mental math and then shrugged. "This is Cipher, callsign Galm One of the independent Usean Mercenary Force, to whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

A pause.

"Galm One, if you are in need of resupply and resources, feel free to land at this location." The mystery voice said.

"How…gracious, of you." Cipher said slowly. "Galm One, understood." He then banked left towards a very unassuming airfield in the middle of the desolate, desert-like region.

Even through the scrambler Cipher could hear the smile. "Canopus to Galm One, you're cleared to land."

…

[Archangel medical bay]

…

"Jesus." William Bishop breathed, staring at a picture of the remains of Panama base (broadcasted by a local TV station) and the incredible amounts of smoke from the scrapped buildings.

"I didn't know the Federation had weapons of such power." The ship doctor murmured.

"Is the Federation capable of using nuclear weapons?" Bishop asked.

"Not since the April Fool's incident, sir." The doctor replied. "ZAFT made plenty sure of that."

_So that means… _Bishop felt a chill run down his spine.

…

[Moon – EFA base Copernicus]

…

"Looks like Josh-A was kept, against all expectations."

The men wearing EFA-uniformed looked around the round meeting table at each other.

"Well, that's hardly a bad thing." The first man to speak continued. _It's a little bad for us, but whatever._

"It shows the unbreaking spirit of the good people of Earth." A mildly arrogant-sounding man said, referring to a news anchor touting the victory of the Federation at the top of his lungs. "If this is the kind of resistance the Atlantic branch can put up then the war will be over in a week!"

"If every battle happened like this we'd be out of manpower by the end of the week." His comparatively more pessimistic neighbor growled. "Look at how many ships were lost just to keep one base functional."

_More importantly, _the first man thought, ignoring the exchange of bravado amongst the background characters. _The EFA lost two of the best aces to…well, us. _He had the barest hint of a smirk. _Is it a sign?_

The conversation eventually turned towards the weapon used to destroy Panama base.

"Can we get our hands on it?" One of the men wondered. "It would be a major boost to our efforts to have something that powerful on our hands without the drawback of nuclear fallout."

"Don't you Eurasians control it?" Another man sneered. "Since it flew at Panama and all."

"Pah." The Eurasian general waved off the accusation. "If we had control over it we would've shot it towards Carpentaria; someone else owns it."

"And that someone else would be us." One of the men sitting across from him said. "You can be assured that the weapon's usage was an accident; its firing mechanism was improperly triggered due to the ZAFT attack upon the weapon installation."

All eyes turned on the speaker: A man with sharp, rugged features and an eternally angry mask for a face.

_Never seen him before. _The First man thought with a bit of worry. _Is he one of us? _"You control those weapons? Do you have any proof?"

"More importantly, who are you?" The fattest man in the room said (incidentally also the highest ranking general in the Federation military).

The angry-looking man smiled thinly. "My name isn't important…the name of my weapon, however…"

"Well then, what's the name of your weapon?" The fattest man asked impatiently.

"Trinity."

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Something something not updating once every two weeks.

I'm getting close to the "that point" of the story. It's gonna be good.


	18. Stage 16 - Separate Ways

{ === + === }

[EFA Territory of North America, Nevada region]

.

Cipher climbed out of his Spearhead and looked around, squinting against the harsh sunlight and the shimmering desert landscape, taking in the view that is this dust-covered excuse for an airbase. His gaze eventually settled on the man greeting him.

Cipher walked up to the man. "I take you're Canopus?"

The man shook his head. "That's my superior; my name is Eugene Solano, callsign Crux." He offered a hand anyways. "Welcome to the base."

Cipher shook the offered hand. "What kind of base is this, anyways? You guys don't seem like a Federation outfit." Cipher glanced at the outline of a GINN being outfitted in one of the farther hangars.

Crux nodded. "We're a mercenary group; the EFA lets us operate as we wish because we mainly stick to protecting the civilian areas from attack." He then saw Cipher grimace just a little. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, not at all." Cipher sighed, and Crux decided to avoid pursuing the matter.

"Hey Crux, who's the new guy?" A grinning young man asked, yelling from the front of the main building. "Also, get your butts over here! It's hot outside."

…

"This is…" Crux started to introduce as the three of them met and shook hands in the reception area.

Cipher figured he had nothing to lose. "Cipher, pleased to meet you." He saw the man's eyes widen for a moment.

"Cipher, huh? Pleased to meet ya, man." The man grinned, clapping Cipher on the back. "I'm Chopper, the best pilot in this dump."

Crux rolled his eyes. "Keep telling yourself that."

Chopper grinned. "What? It's true."

Cipher looked around the rather run-down looking reception area. "So how many of you are there?"

"Before that, what do you plan to do, Cipher?" A black man with a military beret asked. "I'm Canopus, the leader of this little outfit." He extends a friendly hand. "Glad to have you with us."

Cipher takes the offered handshake. "Well," He said after a moment. "I'm looking for a job; got anything in mind?"

…

…

[Giga Float]

…

"Mister Ribbon! I'm honored by your presence." A man wearing a Gründer uniform and a slightly-pink jacket bowed. "It's certainly not every day we get a guest of your caliber."

Ribbon's smile was a bit sheepish. "The honor is mine, I suppose." He then glanced at Bartlett. "I take it Captain Bartlett let you know I was coming?"

The man nodded. "Indeed. Now," He clasps his hands together. "As you are aware the Federation has just lost their only way into space from the America territories, due to…whatever that thing was." The man made a disgusted face. "Given how the Federation is acting recently, we here on the Giga Float believe that they will attempt to… 'obtain', our Mass Driver for their purposes."

Ribbon nodded, letting the man continue.

"Knowing your reputation both here and at home," The man looked solemn. "It would be a great boon to us if you were to lend us your skills in defense of the Giga Float." He then snapped his fingers. "Of course, we have your data from the Archangel and the prototype model in development, thus if you could continue to lend your support for our development process…"

"I'd be happy to help." Ribbon said. "Given the current state of affairs…the world is too strange."

Bartlett chuckled. "That's putting it a bit lightly, Ribbon."

"You can take a look at our databases if you'd like." The man said. "There definitely is something wrong with this war."

"I'll let you get to it in a little bit, but let's go over our squad setup right now." Bartlett said with a yawn. "How do you feel about acting as a squadron leader?"

"How many pilots do you have?" Ribbon asked. _Good ones. _He added silently.

Bartlett ticked off some names. "Let's see…we have me, Yellow 13, you, the Junk Guild guys, and Antares—this Antares guy is pretty good, by the way—and roughly thirty rookies." Bartlett chuckled. "Of course, as long as they can fly straight and shoot at the same time the X-02 compensates for their lack of skill just fine."

The Gründer representative made an 'hmm' sound. "Since we're mass producing them it might be a good idea to change their numbering…Ah, yes, let me show you the prototype we're working on with the data you're gathered for us already…it's not ready to fly yet, of course, but…"

…

…

[Archangel, 3 days later]

…

Kira Yamato stumbled into the officer's lounge and collapsed face-first into the sofa.

"You ok over there, Kira?" Sai asked as Tolle poked Kira's brown messy hair.

Kira mumbled something into the sofa's armrest.

"This is harder than actually fighting." Tolle laughed bitterly. "I want a pay raise and a few days off."

Kira, by virtue of being the pilot of the only large-scale unit in JOSH-A that has opposable thumbs, had spent the past three days taking the bulk of the reconstruction efforts.

Tolle, by virtue of being a pilot that nobody really cared about, helped Kira by using the second Skygrasper as an air-capable tug with the Sword Strike pack. The fact that he was low-key compared to Kira let him do as he pleases with the Skygrasper's equipment (to Murdoch's consternation).

The Duel was shipped off to god knows where.

"At least you're not in Mr. Flaga's shoes." Sai consoled.

Tolle faked crying. "May god rest his sole."

Mu La Flaga was still in the air, doing patrols…very long, very boring patrols justified by the top brass as an "unfortunate necessity", which meant that Mu was spending a lot of time either flying or sleeping.

Blaze and Talisman were kept under watch, which prevented them from taking the load off of Mu's shoulders; due to two of their flight deserting, Murrue decided to pre-emptively place the two on watch just so that the top brass didn't get any unnecessary ideas.

"Where did you think they carted off the Duel to?" Sai wondered. "Having it would help us a lot."

"According to some of the other fighter guys, the EFA is developing a mobile suit based on the Strike's data; I guess they wanted something more concrete?" Tolle said. "Kira, here."

Kira reached up without looking and caught the drink Tolle tossed at him.

"Can't help but feel like it's a bit too little, too late though." Sai muttered.

Tolle nodded. "Yeah."

…

…

A week passed with no other major events.

Following the JOSH-A operation, ZAFT forces deployed on Earth withdrew to their bases and spent a majority of their time protecting their territory, and the Federation forces spent their time doing the same.

The Equatorial Union, on the other hand…

…

[Federation territory of North America]

…

"Deployment order?"

Cipher looked up from the ZAFT pilot training manual.

"Deployment order to where, sir?" Crux continued to ask.

"Where else? The Equatorial Union." Canopus replied. "It's flaring up again."

"Again?" Crux sighed. "It seems like the war in this world is never ending."

_Pretty sure we don't have any room to talk. _Cipher thought idly as he flipped a page.

"Well, regardless of the politics, we have a job to do." Canopus said. "Cipher, do you think you can handle it?"

Cipher didn't need to ask what he was handling. "Beats sitting around and reading all day." He jumped up to his feet and pocketed the instructions manual.

Canopus nodded. "Good; meet in the briefing room in ten minutes."

…

[Giga Float]

…

"I think a good old fashioned 'oh shit' is in order." The pink-coated Gründer mechanic said, raising a glass to the television screen.

Ribbon shook his head. "Damn straight. The EFA can't seem to do anything nowadays." He glared at the news headline heralding the increase of hostilities.

"Good thing we're far away from them, eh?" The mechanic laughed. "Otherwise this would've gotten amazingly bad amazingly quickly."

"Sir." An aide caught their attention. "We have an incoming communication from the army."

The man and Ribbon shared a worried glance. "Let's hear it." The man commanded.

…

[PLANT]

…

"Looks like the situation on the ground is getting worse, princess."

Lacus Clyne nodded solemnly. "Is there anything we can do to help?" She looked toward the speaker, the same mercenary pilot from the little incident in Junius Seven.

"Given the way Zala Senior is acting, I doubt it." The pilot sighed. "The way the war is going on Earth is letting him consolidate his power far too quickly." _This is definitely a side effect. _He thought. _An unfortunate one._

"Hmm?" Lacus looked confused. "But my father…"

"Is royally screwed, if you'll pardon my expression." The pilot grimaced. "Zala's trying to set PLANT up as some kind of messiah, as if winning this war will solve all of Earth's problems. The fact that it's actually _working_ is quite telling about how the PLANT citizens see the situation on Earth."

"Plus, he's using the fear of the new Federation weapon as his sledgehammer." Siegel Clyne, Lacus's father, said as he walked into the room.

Lacus stood up to give her father a hug. "I've seen the videos. It looks…as dangerous as their nuclear warheads."

_I'm just glad it wasn't the V2. _The pilot thought. "If that weapon is capable of being mass produced, then the Feds are…well, as dangerous as Zala says it is. If that's the case, his fearmongering would actually be correct." He looked up to meet Siegel's gaze. "What?"

"It feels like you know more than you're telling us." Siegel said.

"Sorry." The man shrugged. "I know exactly as much as I'm telling you." His phone rings. "Ah, excuse me."

Siegel nods as the pilot leaves to take the call in a less intrusive place than the Clyne household living room.

"Father, what do you plan to do?" Lacus asked.

"I'm not quite sure." Siegel chuckled. "Although an extended vacation to Orb sounds very inviting at this time of year."

The pilot then returned to the room in a hurry, slamming the door against a wall. "Siegel, we have a problem; Zala's making a move."

Siegel Clyne gritted his teeth. "Of all the mistakes he could ever hope to make…"

"Please, this way." The pilot said hurriedly. "Miss Clyne as well."

"What? What's going on?" Lacus asked a little desperately, not really moving.

The pilot gave her a friendly nudge. "Someone's trying to put a bullet into your dad's brain, now hurry it up."

"What? Why is Athrun's father doing this?" Lacus inquired again as the pilot pushed her along.

…

…

[Giga Float]

…

" 'Emergency Requisition of Earth Sphere Resources', they're calling it." Ribbon grumbles to himself. "What a joke."

"Something fun going on?"

Ribbon turned to see Lowe Guele make his entrance. "Who are you?" Ribbon asks.

"Lowe Guele, Junk Guild. Pleased to meet you." Lowe extended his hand, which Ribbon shook.

"Lowe, huh…sounds familiar." Ribbon mused. "I take it you're responsible for putting this thing together?" He gestured all around him.

"The Giga Float? Yeah." Lowe nodded. "The pay is good and I get to see a lot of cool new things, not a thing to complain about. So what's this about Resources?"

Ribbon rolled his eyes and shook his head. "The Federation is asking for Giga Float."

Lowe's eyes went wide. "Seriously?"

Ribbon smiled thinly. "Yeah, and they're backing it up with a threat, too."

Lowe's eyes expressed his confusion and distaste. "What do they plan to do, attack and destroy their only way into space?"

Ribbon shrugged. "You got me; as far as I can see the EFA is doing a fine job of shooting themselves in the foot." He then stared at the computer screen he was working on. "That being said, if they do attack I'm sure it's not going to be an annihilation type attack."

"They have the troops for an occupation, in other words." Lowe grumbles. "Well, that sucks. What are you working on?"

"Data for the Gründer fighter." Ribbon said tersely, and Lowe caught the implication.

"Sorry, trade secrets, right?" Lowe said quickly, and then grinned. "But I caught a glimpse of the prototype; I never thought I'd see the day when people attach feet onto a fighter and call it an 'innovation'."

Ribbon grinned despite himself. "We have Orb tech to thank for that."

"Does the new baby have a name?"

…

…

[EFA Fleet near Giga Float]

[Archangel Bridge]

…

…

"Are we…are we really doing this?" Miriallia asked.

"Orders are orders." Murrue gritted her teeth. "Do we have a reply yet?"

"Uh…no, Giga Float hasn't sent a reply." Miriallia said.

"I don't think we can stall for much more, captain." Natarle said quietly. "Let's just fight a mock battle and get it over with."

Murrue stole a glance at the Des Moines class Cruiser barely within the Archangel's sight range, unable to shake off the feeling of dread that emanated from the two missiles strapped to the ship's hull.

_They can't be. _She told herself again. _It's far too quickly for them to have mass produced those things, they just can't be._

"Incoming message from Tolle." Miriallia said, patching him through.

"Oy, captain, I'm seeing Giga Float roll out some of its weapons; it's probably not going to just lie down and roll over." Tolle said sadly.

"I see…" Murrue sighed. "Let's wait until the last possible moment."

…

"Blaze."

"Yeah?"

"This sucks."

"I know."

Talisman stared at the Archangel's catapult. "It's…very weird, to be on the side of the aggressors. I never thought I'd be attacking a defenseless civilian center."

"Makes the two of us." Blaze muttered, thinking about the time when the Wardogs were accused of attacking a college. "As long as we put up a good fireworks show it'll work out just fine."

"I can't get rid of that feeling though." Talisman admitted.

"Me neither. Those missiles outside were probably those things." Blaze snarled.

"Then it's our job to make sure the missiles don't hit their mark." A third voice said.

Blaze looked around, seeing a bomber Spearhead that used to belong to Ribbon. "That's…William Bishop, right?"

"Yeah; Warwolf One will join the Razgriz squadron for this operation." Bishop said.

"Thank you, Sir." Blaze said, remembering that Bishop was still a colonel.

Bishop chuckled. "I don't think my rank has any meaning now. Bishop is fine."

Talisman stared at the Strike. "More importantly…are we going to use the Strike?"

Blaze glanced at the Strike as well. "I don't think so. Murrue doesn't want to, and Kira sure as hell isn't going to."

"Using it would damage our morale a lot more than it'd help." Bishop added.

"Great, so it's just us against the civilians." Talisman said dryly.

Blaze heard a click on his radio, and sighed heavily. "Well, here goes nothing. Razgriz, sortie."

…

[Giga Float]

…

"This sucks." Lowe said plainly.

"Yeah." Ribbon agreed. "But a fight is a fight, and since our opponent is the Archangel then we can get away with faking the battle a little…it's a lot better than just rolling over for an attacker just because you used to be friends with them."

"I know, but it still sucks." Lowe grumbled. "Astray, deploying!"

"Mobius One, taking off." Ribbon said, taking to the skies in his Spearhead Revision Two (The Gründer mechanics upgraded it again).

…

[Archangel]

…

"The enemy has deployed fighters." Miriallia groaned. "IFF matches for Captain Bartlett, Ribbon, and Yellow 13. We're really fighting friends?"

"Yesterday's friends become today's enemies." Natarle said calmly as her training overruled her emotions. "At the end of the day, this is business."

"She's right." Murrue said softly. "All units commence attack; our objective is to secure the airspace over Mega Float so the invasion fleet can land safely." She then gets a bright idea. "Send a message to the invasion fleet, tell them to hold position until we have achieved total air superiority; we're up against Ribbon, after all."

"Yes ma'am." Miriallia's reply was a little bit happier.

…

"We're really doing it." Blaze sighed. "Roger that. Razgriz One engaging."

"Razgriz Two, engaging!" Talisman yelled, trying to rouse himself for this unpleasant fight.

"Razgriz Three, engage." Bishop said calmly, not having the same level of attachment to the other pilots as his squad mates.

The three Razgriz Spearheads quickly climb up and join the rest of the Federation Spearheads in a small fighter cloud, bearing down upon the artificial island that is the Giga Float.

…

"Here they come." Bartlett growled. "This is just like before. Pah! Even if they used to be our friends, don't let your guard down; if the Fed is really trying to take over Mega Float they'll be coming in with invasion ships, so keep your eyes peeled." He looked around at the X-02s flying in formation behind them. "You rookies, stay with your captains and listen to what they tell you! You'll live longer that way."

"Copy, Yellow 13, Engaging. Yellow Squadron, engage as a formation; don't fight them single ship." Yellow 13's X-02 with its yellow wing tips led a squadron of X-02s colored in the same way.

"Dammit. Lowe, I understand." Lowe, being the only mobile suit pilot, had no squadron to look after. His Red Astray and its Gerbera Straight Katana lagged a little behind the rest of the fighters (as a reserve against the Strike if it deployed late).

"Antares One, roger. Antares flight, stay close to me; those guys are the real deal, fly defensively and watch each other's backs."

"Mobius Squadron, the same." Ribbon said, and then took a deep breath. "Mobius One, engage, squadron, fire XLAAs on my signal." Mobius One waited until he heard the radar lock tone from the eXperimental Long-range Anti Air missiles, and depressed the trigger. "Fox Three!"

A wave of sixteen XLAAs dropped from the X-02's underbelly, and sixteen missile trails flew towards the incoming Spearhead cloud.

"That's bad for us. Break!" Blaze ordered as soon as he heard the threat alert, and some of the Spearheads broke off from the pack in response, leaving the rest of soak the hits from the missiles. "What the hell, you guys are actually shooting at us?" He asked over a common frequency.

"Kid, know your loyalties." Bartlett responded, his squadron flying high above the EFA Spearheads. "If you choose to fly for the Federation, then we're on opposite sides here. The only thing that matters is if your flying can keep up with your mouth."

Blaze grinned. "I think I'll keep up just fine." He pulled up and accelerated.

Bartlett grinned as well. "Let's do this, Blaze." He inverted and descended.

"God you two are battle hungry." Talisman remarked with a shake of his head. "Ribbon, I think you know why we're here."

"Orders are orders, right?" Mobius One laughed sadly. "Well…I'll try to pull my punches, make sure to bail out before you go down in flames."

Talisman laughed. "Took the words right out of my mouth." He said as the two turned to face each other in midair, accelerating and charging towards each other as if jousting like knights.

"Why are they doing this again?" Sai asked nobody in particular.

"For all their talk about not wanting to do this they seem pretty gung-ho about it." Natarle agreed.

"It's because they are the Legendary Aces." Sky Eye chuckled. "And no Ace can go without testing his skill against another…Besides," He watched as Yellow 13 and Colonel Bishop fight tooth and nail for the more advantageous position while the unknown scorpion craft (Antares) laid waste to the other Federation fighters. "I imagine all of them wanted a fight like this since the day they met."

Sai rolled his eyes. "And the simulators aren't enough?"

Sky Eye openly laughed at that. "As with most things in life, nothing beats the real thing!"

…

[ZAFT Submarine]

…

Yzak whistled softly under his breath. "They really are going at it." He said as he stares transfixed at the display screen of the air battle currently raging over the Giga Float.

"Ex-friends, fighting each other over the dumbest things." Dearka's smile was just a bit too playful.

"Well, hey, if things go well we'll be rid of two really pesky enemies in one day." Yzak laughs. "I root for whichever god made this fight happen."

Dearka and Yzak continued to trade lighthearted jabs at the Federation's expense.

Athrun, on the other hand, was sitting in the corner fuming.

Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Why are we just sitting here?" Athrun's question was full of agitation.

Dearka looked at Athrun, and then looked at Yzak. "Did you two switch places when I wasn't looking?"

Yzak jabbed Dearka with his elbow. "Funny." He then looked at Athrun. "What do you mean?"

"People are dying." Athrun said simply. "Civilians are dying and all we are doing is sitting around."

"They're not _our_ civilians." Dearka shrugged. "I feel for them, but this is a war…and besides, why did those civilians build something like that to begin with?" He gestured toward the Giga Float.

"They are still civilians." Of the three of them, Athrun had the most mental baggage from Junius Seven, and it was rearing its head now. "I'm going."

"Eh?!" Dearka exclaimed as Athrun headed out of the officer lounge. "Oy! Athrun! What the hell?" He gestured towards the empty doorway to Yzak.

"As much as I hate the Naturals…I think if they kill each other here then we should all throw a party. The hell is wrong with him?" Yzak grumbled. "Let's go, Dearka."

Dearka jumped up after Yzak. "What? Why can't we just sit here and watch it on TV?"

"Because the captain of the ship will have our head, now let's go."

…

…

"This is easy." One of the rookies on Giga Float's side said, reveling in the fact that he hasn't been hit yet. "Especially when they're not using their guns."

_We're not using our guns either. _"Don't get complacent; keep your eye out for the invasion fleet ships." Mobius One chided.

"Sure thing, boss." The rookie said dismissively, before his threat receiver chirped loudly. "What the…lead, ZAFT units closing in." Credit where it's due: the instant a threat appeared against the rookie pilot he immediately searched a wingman to fly with.

_ZAFT? _Mobius One thought quickly. "Keep your eyes open, we don't know what their intentions are." He changed his radio channel. "Mobius One to Giga Float."

"Giga Float here, Ribbon, what do you need?" Lowe's employer (the woman known only as Professor) asked.

"Hail the ZAFT units and see what their intentions are." She said, bemused.

Ribbon didn't need to have bothered; the lead DINN opened a general channel for everyone to hear.

Athrun's wrath-filled voice came over the radio. "EFA fleet, you are conducting an attack on a civilian installation. Ceasefire and withdraw immediately!"

There was a brief moment of stunned silence before Natarle facepalmed. "He's right and we want to get out of here, but we can't just leave because the _enemy _said so!"

"Repeat! Ceasefire and withdraw immediately!" Athrun demanded again.

The EFA warships (sans the Archangel) responded by opening fire in his general direction.

"Oy! Athrun! Did you really think that would work?!" Yzak demanded, finally catching up to Athrun in his own DINN.

Athrun simply gritted his teeth and dove towards the sea, levelling out near the ocean surface to zoom straight towards the EFA warships while dodging their retaliatory anti-air fire.

"Christ, the boy's gone insane." Mu La Flaga growled, spooling up the Skygrasper's engines. "I'm heading out!" He says as he prepared to taxi toward the nearest catapult.

Before he could, however, he saw the Strike run full speed out of the Archangel's catapult.

"Athrun! Stop! You're not making things any better!" Kira yelled as his Strike barely avoided crashing into the ocean on takeoff.

"Kira! Are these the people you're trying to protect?!" Athrun yelled in response, still on the open channel.

_They know each other? _People from both sides thought simultaneously.

"Barging onto the battlefield like this won't solve a thing!" Kira yelled, before blocking a shotgun spray from Athrun's DINN. "Stop! I don't want to fight you!"

"Then get lost!" Athrun snarled. "You pilot that suit to protect your friends, right?! So don't shield the people that attack the innocent with that suit of yours!" _That's right…just like Junius Seven…!_

His emotions reached a zenith, and Athrun felt his senses crystallize into one thought, one desire: _vengeance._

"Whoa!" Kira couldn't react in time as Athrun's DINN suddenly charged into the Strike shoulder-first, and only barely registered the DINN stealing one of the Strike's beam sabers as it grappled onto the Strike and tossed it towards the ocean.

"This is what you get for copying ZAFT engineering." Athrun said coldly, reprogramming the link-up code for the DINN and the saber (letting the saber use energy from the DINN's batteries) at a breakneck pace as he flew towards the EFA warships again.

"Athrun! Dammit!" Kira pointed his rifle at the back of Athrun's unit, and pulled the trigger.

Athrun, by virtue of being something other than a total novice, dodged the shots without any real difficulty. Kira still regaining control of his suit probably didn't help his aim any.

"Dammit. All units! Break off the attack on Giga Float and focus on the incoming DINN!" Murrue ordered.

"Blaze, copy!" Blaze took a high-g turn and dove towards Athrun's DINN. Bartlett saw no reason to chase after him and instead pulled high along with his squadron to sit and wait.

Athrun paid no attention to Blaze bearing down on him from above, and instead skimmed along the ocean surface and fired his machinegun towards the nearest EFA destroyer.

After a few rounds breached the bridge, the destroyer's ammo dump took a critical hit, and the ship's body was torn clean in half by the resulting explosion.

"That kid got real good all of a sudden." Blaze snarled, diving down to the same altitude to chase Athrun down. "Strike you alright? I could use some help."

The Strike by now has impacted the water and gave Kira a slight headache. "Yeah, I'm good." He says as he pools all of the Strike's energy into its engine, taking it into the air. "I don't think I can assist you from here though." Kira growled as two more DINNs flew in to bar his path.

"Maybe we should help Athrun?" Dearka asked as he flew around the Strike.

"We are. Keep the Strike occupied. Crazy-ass over there can handle the rest." Yzak ordered.

"Aye aye." Dearka fired a few missiles at the Strike and then closed in for melee combat.

…

As Yzak predicted, Athrun was indeed able to handle the rest. The EFA fleet of the Archangel plus escorts (totaling eight ships) was soon whittled down to only one functional ship, the Archangel.

"What are you doing?!" Natarle demanded as the Archangel suffered another hit. "It's just a DINN! Kill it!"

"We're trying!" Talisman snapped. "He hasn't stopped kissing the damn ships!"

Talisman's description was apt; even as the EFA destroyers were being killed, Athrun only flew the shortest distances possible and he flew as closely to the burning wrecks of the ships as possible, bouncing between the burning wrecks with impossible precision and making the heat seeking missiles from the Spearheads useless, all to force the Aces to fly closer for a gun kill…a gun kill that didn't happen because the DINN could fly around obstacles in a way that would force the Spearhead to either slow down to follow…or to fly at it in an insanely predictable approach.

As Blaze found out to the cost of one VTOL engine, Athrun is perfectly willing to take the shot the instant anyone showed an opening.

That being said, it wasn't as if Athrun was totally untouched. His distance to the EFA ships was only achievable by taking an absurd amount of fire, and the once beetle-like shape of the DINN is now missing almost all of its wings as well as its right arm. Were it not for the assistance of his vengeance-induced SEED mode his suit would certainly not have survived.

Either way, the Archangel is having a pretty bad day right now.

"Portside guns hit! We've lost almost all port side AAs!" Sai reported. "Jesus Christ Kira, your friend is insane!"

"Athrun!" Kira dodged a burst of shotgun pellets from Yzak's DINN. "Guh…out of my way!" Kira's hasty deployment and the subsequent damage it sustained smacking into the water caused an error in his electronics, forcing him to target via his eyes.

Kira's eyes, as it turns out, were pretty good.

"Damn!" Dearka tossed his shotgun away as a shot from the Strike hit it square on the barrel. "You're still a tenacious bastard, I see!" He pulled out his machine gun, spraying the Strike with fire.

"Athrun!" Yzak yelled as he pressed in on the Strike with a flying kick. "You're in too deep! Get outta there!" The Strike blocked the kick with its shield and returned fire with its Vulcans. The kick did force it back down to the ocean surface, however.

Athrun, still in his SEED mode, didn't answer.

Kira glanced down at his energy gauge, noting that he was very close to being dry. The self-launch out of the Archangel and the constant use of afterburners to reduce any kind of distance between him and Athrun's DINN took its toll. "Dammit!" Kira cut all excess power and dove into the Ocean.

"What the…" Yzak responded by firing at the Ocean surface. "That Strike can maneuver underwater? Athrun! He's coming towards you!" He warned.

Athrun didn't seem to care.

"Oh sh-Portside Valiant is gone!" Sai bit his tongue. "Ow! That DINN ripped it off! God that hurt!"

Athrun tossed the barrel of the Valiant rail gun into the ocean and fired several shotgun blasts into the base structure, causing it to explode outwards.

"God dammit!" Blaze snarled as his infrared scanners warned him of a friendly fire hit should he launch missiles now. He switched to the Vulcans and peppered the DINN in the few seconds he had in his window of attack before he had to break off to avoid the counter fire.

Athrun barely registered the damage alert among the other alerts and warning alarms blaring in the cockpit of the DINN. He did, however, realize that he was almost out of energy.

"Yzak, Dearka, we're leaving." Athrun said emotionlessly as he dropped to the ocean surface, skimming it with his engine exhaust to create a screen of obscuring mist.

Dearka couldn't believe his ears. "What? What the hell? Athrun! God!" He fired wildly at the Spearheads chasing Athrun's DINN. "You owe us big for this crap!"

Yzak, on the other hand, was grinning. "It's about time you stopped acting so emotionless all the time, _Captain_ Athrun."

Athrun didn't respond, instead simply choosing to disengage from the battlefield and return to his submarine carrier.

…

…

Owing to the interference of the ZAFT forces (namely just Athrun) and the destruction of the entire fleet, Murrue decided to call it a day and sail home to a nearby EFA dock on the coastline of Asia.

The Giga Float, not really interested in prolonging a fight, had no issues letting them go.

The EFA Invasion fleet took Murrue's advice and stayed the hell away from the battlefield, and returned to the docks as well once Murrue informed them of a (potential) ZAFT submarine in the area.

…

…

"Well, that was a surprise." Bartlett remarked.

The aces of Giga Float were gathered with the Junk Guild crew in a bar somewhere on the Giga Float.

"So Kira knew that kid?" Bartlett said, looking at Mobius One.

Ribbon shrugged. "I guess so…probably a pretty close friend, if they're perfectly ok with calling each other out over a general band."

"Huh." Bartlett scratched his chin. "The kid took out seven and a half warships, but if all the yelling told us anything it's that his behavior was abnormal…is ZAFT making their pilots do drugs?"

Everyone fell silent as they turned the implications of that little assumption in their heads.

"I think I saw something similar before." Ribbon mused. "Kira had a similar condition sometimes where he would drastically change in battle."

"Kind of like a super mode?" Lowe grinned. "His hand is burning red, and all that."

Ribbon smiled and shook his head. "I don't think they know how to achieve that kind of…state. If this Athrun showed us anything today…I guess their mental condition has something to do with it."

"Well…that aside." Yellow 13 grimaced. "ZAFT now has a leg up on the Giga Float thanks to the EFA…talk about strange."

Thanks to ZAFT's interference against the Archangel, they were now able to place a submarine around the Giga Float under the reasoning of "further protection against unwanted EFA aggression against Neutral assets." Of course, both sides have tried placing assets near neutral territories before, but it has always failed due to the Neutral country (in many cases, Orb) citing a lack of reason to patrol around their waters.

As far as the Giga Float is concerned, they now no longer have the shield of neutrality to hide behind, and thus must rely on ZAFT for defense…if only because any attempt to deny ZAFT aid might cause ZAFT to attack them as well, or worse, cause an EFA versus ZAFT fight right over their heads.

Bartlett's scowl told everyone present what he thought about this situation. "Yeah."

…

[Archangel]

…

Kira heard a knock on his door. "Kira, can I come in?" It was Murrue's voice.

"Yeah." Kira stood up to attention as Murrue and Natarle walked into his quarters. "Um…what's this about?"

"About that ZAFT pilot." Natarle said tersely. "How do you know him? Are you in contact with him?"

Kira didn't like the implication. "You think betraying you?"

Murrue cut across Natarle. "No, Kira, we don't. But at the same time…we lost seven ships…and seven ships worth of crew today."

Kira grimaced, and nodded. "Athrun…is a good friend of mine. I'm not sure what made him snap like that…no, no, I think I do." He glared at Natarle. "The EFA attacking a neutral place like the Giga Float probably set him off."

"So he lost someone on Junius Seven?" Murrue frowned. Her frown deepened when Kira nodded in response. "Small wonder he would go off the deep end then." She scratched her head. "Well, it's not like the Archangel is in a combat capable state, with so many of our guns killed. I wonder if the top brass will just let us walk away like this?"

"Given how utterly insane the top brass has been behaving nowadays, I severely doubt it." Natarle grunted. "It is my personal opinion that the Federation has sunk far since my father's days."

Sai's voice came over the intercom, with a measure of calmness that seemed otherworldly. "Captain Murrue, we have an incoming message from Copernicus City."

Copernicus City is located on the moon, and is a part of the EFA military infrastructure. "Why?" Murrue muttered.

Sai audibly took a deep breath. "JOSH-A has been annihilated."

…

…

[Shortly after he was shot down]

…

…

Rau Le Cruset surveyed his situation: It didn't look too good.

While he was able to crash-land his DINN in a way that preserved his own life, the DINN was certainly dead in all ways, shape, and form.

Rau climbed out of the DINN's cockpit and sat on the DINN for a while, simply observing and taking in the forest around him with a single thought rolling around in his head: _What do I do now…?_

Certainly, he had no way of signaling for help: any normal signal he could send can and will be received by the EFA first, and going by how the battle above his head was going the EFA will probably win it…and win it easily.

He could, however, use his ZAFT emergency signal, but…

_That would take away too many options for no gain. _Rau thought, and then heard something that sounded like engine noise. _That sounds like it's getting closer. _He ducked back into the cockpit and pulled a pistol from an emergency supply bay.

Whatever the engine belonged to, it pulled up pretty close to the DINN before the noise stopped.

"Looks like this DINN belonged to someone important." A voice said.

"Ayup…it came down pretty solid too." A second voice drawled. "You think he's still alive in there?"

_Sounds like RR crew. _Rau thought. Rescue and Recovery crews were vital for ZAFT, as a dead mobile suit in the vacuum of space means the death of its pilot in all but the best situations. It made sense to him that the Federation Headquarters (one of them) on Earth would employ specialized recovery crew as well.

"The hatch is popped…" The first voice mused. "Cover me, I'm going in."

"It ain't that big of a deal." The second voice chuckled, and then looked down. "Oy!"

Rau Le Cruset is a coordinator, engineered to have superior abilities over your average human. As such, before the first voice had started talking or was aware of what was happening, Rau took the advantage of height to carefully crawl out of the cockpit block and slid down to the side opposite of the EFA recovery crew.

Thus, the second recovery crewmember was blindsided by a white blur rushing at him from behind the DINN's leg stump. Before he could yell for help, Rau had charged the man and tackled him into the ground.

"Shit!" The other crewmember climbing up the DINN turned around and raised his gun, giving Rau just enough time to put a bullet squarely into his head.

…

"Well, that was a little tougher than I expected." Rau said breezily, leaving the two now uniform-less corpses behind as he drove their car towards Josh-A. "I suppose I should thank the lucky stars one of them has my hair color." He laughed.

…

…

"Welcome back…what the hell happened to you?"

Rau consciously touched his face, where a rough bandage substituted his usual mask. "Unlucky with ammunition."

The officer made a face. "Yikes, sorry to hear that." Since all Rescue and Recovery crews deployed in crews of two and only one returned, it wasn't hard to guess what happened to the other guy. "Good work; get yourself to the infirmary and some rest later."

Rau, who had purposely looked for and approached the most conscientious looking officer, saluted. "Yes sir." _Good officers are hard to find…fortunately the militaries are all full of officers who misconstrue naivety as good. _He thought with a mental eyeroll.

…

…

As expected, Rau went nowhere close to the infirmary, instead taking his time wandering around the oddly empty halls of Josh-A until he found an interestingly deserted room.

_This must be a control station…so the high command already left? _Rau thought. _No…judging by the defenses arrayed against us some form of command must still be here. So only a select faction left, huh...I wonder who it was?_

His thoughts were entirely different by the time he saw what the control room was _for_.

"Cyclops…" Rau said with a slight grin. "Must be nice, having land that will selflessly support life even if you blow it up sky-high." His grin turned sour. "Now let's what happens when your Cyclops no longer listens to you."

…

Unfortunately, it took him a while (much longer than he'd like to admit) to put the Cyclops system under his command, and during those days he secured his stay by hacking into the Josh-A's intranet and installed himself as a reasonably average-ranked officer under the EFA command with several interesting connections. Those 'connections' gave him an interesting veil of secrecy generally reserved for the highest EFA commanders, and also allowed him to give several commands to Federation assets, including the most current command given to the Archangel, telling it to attack the Giga Float. It also had the pleasant side effect of marking him as safe from investigation, which was certainly nice.

Eventually, he was able to gain access to the Cyclops system and rigged it to detonate…but only detonate after he was as far away from this place as possible.

Now, he sits comfortably inside an officer quarters back on a ZAFT submarine, immensely pleased at himself (but not showing it) as he watched the crater that used to be Josh-A bellow forth fire and smoke while listening in on the intercepted panicked radio communications from the EFA forces.

…

[Archangel, now]

Upon hearing the news that Josh-A had been annihilated, Natarle and Murrue looked at each other.

Kira observed them for a moment. "I thought you two would be more panicked." He said at last.

"Well…" Murrue made a motion that looked almost like a shrug.

The implication was pretty clear: both women regarded the loss of Josh-A with apathy at best, glee at worst.

"Aren't you two supposed to be…I don't know, responsible adults?" Kira asked with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, we're entirely responsible." Murrue assured him. "That's why we haven't celebrated yet."

Kira sighed and shook his head.

…

[ZAFT Carrier Submarine]

…

"So this was the gift he was talking about." Yzak laughed. "Commander Cruset knows his stuff, alright."

"I wondered where he was; I heard he was shot down over Josh-A and uh…I was really surprised that Zala Dad wasn't going out to get him." Dearka said.

Yzak raised an eyebrow. "Zala Dad?"

Dearka grinned. "Athrun Zala's father, Zala Dad. Dad Zala?"

Yzak shook his head. "Sure, whatever." He turned to Athrun. "How are you feeling, Mister Berserker? Guess that red coloring wasn't just for show, huh?"

Athrun wasn't all too happy with himself. Only after he came back to the ZAFT Submarine did he realize how many people he just killed by sinking those ships. While they were soldiers, and certainly they did obey an order to be on those ships…his conscience certainly wasn't keeping quiet about any of this.

Dearka frowned. "Oy…you ok, Athrun? Your face doesn't look too good."

"I'm fine." Athrun mumbled.

"If how you acted back there was you being 'fine' then I'm worried about what you'll do when you're not fine." Dearka clapped Athrun on the back. "We're buddies here, right? So don't hold out on us."

Athrun simply looked glum and scowled some more at the floor.

Yzak sneered. "What'd you expect, Dearka? Athrun is a little bag of quiet whenever we're not talking about combat nowadays." He got a glare from Athrun. "See?"

Athrun sighed. "I'm reflecting on my actions."

"So he says." Dearka chuckled. Athrun, due to his actions of killing seven EFA warships and disobeying every order in the ZAFT rulebook, was given a field promotion and ordered to stay inside the sub until they returned to Carpentaria.

As expected not even the sub captain (who had de-facto control while the submarine was in transit) knew what to do in this situation.

"What did you do back there?" Yzak asked Athrun. "It looked as if you suddenly lost control of your senses."

"That…might be accurate." Athrun nodded. "I just felt incredibly angry and then…nothing."

Dearka stared at Yzak. "Maybe you need to get angrier more often."

Yzak rolled his eyes. "I'm past that, you know." Which is true: Yzak is much calmer and far more controlled than he would've been had the Aces not shown up. "Still…do you think you can do it again?"

Athrun stared at the floor.

…

[Archangel, Hangar bay]

…

Blaze stared at his Spearhead as the mechanics crew finalized repairs on its craft.

"Hey! I heard you got your ass kicked by a brat!" Someone yelled loudly right before Blaze felt a large hand come down onto his shoulder.

"Hey to you too, Murdoch." Blaze smiled; Murdoch was responsible for rush-fixing the Spearhead. "How does it look?"

Murdoch scratched his head. "Not too good; much as I hate to admit it, we can't compete with the Gründer mechanics, and now that they've left…well, to cut to the chase, your VTOL engine is shot, we're going to need to replace it with a new one, so in the meantime you should avoid trying to use the other one."

Blaze made a mental note to try maneuvering with only one VTOL engine in the near future.

"We also needed to replace some of the armor on the wings, so it's a bit heavier than before." Murdoch continued. "But that shouldn't pose too much of an issue…how did that kid outfly _you _of all people?"

_Because I wasn't about to risk my life for a ship trying to kill civilians? _Blaze thought. "There was something strange about his flying…it was very…measuredly suicidal."

Murdoch stared at him. "Really." He said after a while. "Well, thanks to him we lost a Valiant…I still can't believe he just tore it off with his hands."

There was now a running bet among the mechanics to see which gun would be torn off next. Everyone's money seems to be on a Gottfried Cannon barrel, for some reason.

"So what's the plan?" Blaze asked.

Murdoch shrugged. "No idea. Josh-A got bombed or something, so we're holding our ground for the time being."

" 'Got bombed' is putting it lightly." Talisman said from the second floor. "Did you see it on the news? There's a massive crater where the base used to be."

"Any idea on what caused it?" Blaze called up towards him.

"Beats me." Talisman calls back. "But I think it's similar to what we saw in our first battle." The first battle being the conflict in Endymion, where the Four Aces of Strangereal fled the scene when they felt the EFA unleash something powerful on the battlefield.

Blaze thought about it a little more and then turned towards the head mechanic. "Murdoch, did the Feds ever say what they used on Endymion?"

Murdoch shook his head. "We know it's called a Cyclops system, but nothing more than that."

"So that means the Feds installed something like that under their own base?!" Talisman exclaimed. "Can we call Giga Float right now? Can we just call them and just leave this damned army?"

…

[Elsewhere]

…

Two men in very formal business suits were busy celebrating with very, _very _expensive champagne upon seeing the crater that used to be Josh-A.

"I don't believe this!" The first man said after calming down some. "They actually went and did it!"

"Here they come to save the day!" The second man sang. "If everything goes this well we're going to be done by next week!"

Neither of them knew exactly what happened, but they didn't care; Josh-A was destroyed, and it was destroyed in a way that clearly framed the EFA themselves as the culprits, and that was good enough for their purposes.

"Actually, we might as well hurry the plan up. It would make sense right now…" The second man wondered aloud. "It would make sense if the EFA looked like they were panicking…and hurrying towards space."

The first man smirked. "Oh, we're finally unleashing that, huh? The Ultra Special Stonehenge Extreme?"

The Second man stared at him. "Your naming sense never went past middle school, did it?"

"No." The first man laughed.

…

…

…

A few days later, the world received a shock.

A civilian airliner, inbound to the Giga Float from Orb, was shot down by a long-range strike from the Equatorial Union.

ZAFT, predictably, blamed the Federation for smuggling equipment into the EU for the rebels to use, in order to use the bodies of the neutral nations for their own purposes.

The EFA steadfastly denied that they knew what was going on, which was actually true; nobody in the EFA knew what was going on, although by now some of the more insidious members have caught on to the fact that there was a secondary organization manipulating the Federation commanders to their own ends.

Unfortunately, the realization came far, far too late.

…

Everywhere across the world, both on PLANT and Earth, simultaneously saw one message, being delivered by one man, one...slightly unkempt man.

He opened his mouth, and the world listened.

"Greetings, all peace-loving people of the world; I am Kacper (Casper) Cohen, and I have a message for all of you."

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes:

This chapter and the next two are technically one section, but...y'know, padding and stuff.


	19. Stage 16x - A New Era

{ === + === }

_Cohen speaks behind a simple wooden lectern, and all around him was blackness, save a single spotlight shining onto him from above. A gray map of Earth is displayed behind him, its gray color replaced by blue with every word._

"The world has, up until now, been controlled by the all-powerful and all-inclusive nation known as the Earth Federation Alliance. They have done their part in maintaining peace and prosperity amongst the good people of the Earth."

_The now entirely blue map is suddenly recolored red._

"However, with the advent of the Coordinators, their objective changed. Instead of being a nation devoted to the well-being of its citizens, it became a little boy dedicated to proving its misguided sense of superiority."

_The image changes to a still image of the destruction of Junius Seven, along with images of people in mourning…images depicting both Naturals and Coordinators._

"And now, faced with the deterioration of their war, faced with the inevitable loss against an enemy that they made themselves, faced with a despicable situation that they inflicted upon themselves, they turn upon their own civilians, their own people…as if the problems will be solved by these foolish actions."

_More images appear, detailing every Federation loss so far…namely Panama Base and especially Josh-A._

"With their past atrocities, they have killed so many…and for what? To simply satisfy their own misguided sense of superiority…so that they wouldn't feel so small on the world stage." _Cohen smirked_. "Their time is now past."

_The stage around him lights up, and sitting behind him is an array of people, dressed from all walks of life. Three flags are boldly represented, one of Usea (two white rings surrounded by a ring of stars), one of PLANT, and one of the iconic three connected triangles of the Independent State Allied Forces._

"In light of the current events, I hereby proclaim that we, the Knights of Belka, shall rise up to become the new protectors of the people! We shall be the shield for the weak, the sword of the brave, the justice for the oppressed, and the despair of the wicked!"

_The blood red map appears again, this time slowly returning to a lighter shade of blue._

"With the courageous men and women here as my witness, I hereby declare the formation of the Republic of Usea! Let all who harbor strength and justice in their hearts come! We will stand and become the new world order! We will bring this dark world into its deserved new era!"

_The men and women standing behind him, wearing an assortment of uniforms from both EFA and ZAFT, as well as the garb of many non-military professions, stand and clap in unison. The audience, unseen, makes its presence known by cheering and clapping. Cohen shouts over the noise._

"If you desire peace and justice, come! We will greet you with all of our love! If you desire to test our resolve, come! We shall meet you with all of our fury! For WE are the Knights of BELKA! WE! ARE! USEA!"

_Cohen raises his fist in triumph to deafening cheers, and the screen turns black_.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes: Yep.


	20. Stage 17 - Open War

{ === + === }

"Well, that just happened." Bartlett said slowly.

Giga Float right now acted like the rest of the world: transfixed by the creation of a new nation without any sort of warning.

"Yeah." Yellow 13 agreed, a little stunned by the news.

Ribbon could care less. He was entirely focused upon the Stonehenge installation that unveiled itself within the Equatorial Union, and would've flown out to destroy it had Bartlett not interfered.

"I feel ya, Ribbon, I do." Bartlett had said. "But even if you go right now and destroy it you won't solve a thing."

The sad part is Bartlett was right. Upon the revelation of the Stonehenge installation, ZAFT attempted to destroy it with a cruise missile attack from one of their Submarines loitering around the EU waters.

The cruise missiles were all destroyed by a beam of light, indicating that this particular installation was better defended than the previous one. Incidentally, the ZAFT submarine was lost shortly after it had deployed its cruise missiles, with the reason for its loss was unknown.

Ribbon wasn't one to be stopped by logic, however, and thus Bartlett took the more extreme measure of cuffing Ribbon to his chair…and then cuffing the chair to the bolted down table in front of him.

"Was this really necessary?" Ribbon rattled the handcuff.

Bartlett chuckled. "Hey, you'll just run off into that thing at the first available opportunity, of course it's necessary."

"Concerning this new Usea," Yellow 13 spoke up. "What demands has it made?"

Bartlett sighed. "For a country run by so-called Belkans, it's demands have been pretty reasonable; they've offered to let anyone who wish to join them do so, as long as swear loyalty to the Republic of Usea first and foremost. A lot of the Eurasian EFA brass has already joined them…that is, they joined and gave the Useans territory, so that probably helped." Bartlett took a swig of his drink. "According to that Professor lady they've also invited the Giga Float to join them, promising to let Giga Float keep its autonomous status in exchange of letting Bel-sorry, Usea—handle their protection."

"And Orb?" Yellow 13 asked.

Bartlett shook his head. "I won't be surprised if Orb also got an invite, but based on what I've heard about the current Orb's head of state I'm pretty sure he won't accept the deal."

…

[PLANT]

…

"What's this about a 'republic'? Pah." Patrick Zala spat.

He hasn't been in a good mood ever since Siegel Clyne ran away. Of course, he took the necessary steps to ensure that the 'terrorists' responsible for the attack were properly punished to cover his tracks, but their failure didn't sit well with him.

"Sir?" His aide asked, and received the permission to continue speaking. "The Republic of Usea has requested for a ceasefire with PLANT."

"Denied." Patrick Zala snapped. "It's quite obvious that these so called Useans are just Natural dogs in a different color; just because they can change their coats doesn't protect them against the sin of destroying a colony."

…

[Copernicus City, Moon]

…

The now comparatively empty meeting room, a room that used to be filled with Federation commanders, told the remainder exactly what kind of scenario happened.

"So these Knights…" One of the remaining old generals laughed mirthlessly. "These so called Knights infiltrated our ranks, instigated all of these heinous attacks…and then have the audacity to create a new world order under the name of justice? Brilliant, absolutely brilliant." He looked around at the faces that are left. "I commend all of you for staying within the Atlantic Federation, and for maintaining our ideal."

"Even if we left now, I'm sure the dogs in Usea would have us assassinated." One of the lower ranking officers snarled. "Given the circumstances, we'll follow you to the end, general."

"Good…good." The General smiled. "Now then, let me think…"

Another officer raised his hand. "Sir, if I may, what if we exposed the truth to the world?"

"The truth?" The General laughed. "The truth is that we, the Federation, is evil. Truth, my dear boy, is formed by opinions; the masses believe what they wish to believe, and in turn their opinions frame what they believe as the truth." He sighed. "Whoever these Useans are, they know their audience quite well."

"Sir." An aide said. "If I may?"

"Speak."

"The Stonehenge installation in the EU is targeting Usea…and Orb, and the EU itself." The aide gulped.

An officer slammed his hand on the table. "This is preposterous! We don't have the command of the installation!"

The General Laughed. "That we do not…but people will not care." He gestured to the aide. "Make a public declaration: tell the world that we have lost control of this Stonehenge weapon to Blue Cosmos members, and they're attempting to terrorize the world into submission in retaliation of the creation of this…Usea." He glanced at a man wearing a blue coat.

The man smiled. "For a blue and pure world, a little bit of roughness is necessary…our reputation can certainly handle a few smears here and there."

…

[Republic of Usea Capital]

…

In a sparkling clean (if somewhat cramped) office, Cohen does his paperwork, while various aides relayed messages to him and the men assisting him.

"We've received a message from ZAFT: they rejected our plea for peace."

"The neutral country of Orb is unwilling to join us at this time."

"Giga Float has accepted our request to support, we are sending in a squadron of CFA-44 Nosferatu fighter jets to assist in its defense."

"The Gründer war factories and shipyards are operating at optimal capacity, and the production of X-02 Wyverns is proceeding as scheduled."

Cohen sat back. "Sounds like everything is going well."

"Of course." One of the men laughed. "Usea's stance on Naturals and Coordinators have made things remarkably easy…it's quite surprising how many people have no problems with living next to a supposed space alien. What bothers me is ZAFT, though…I take it they're not going to stop attacking the Earth."

"Dealing with a live threat from space is a little out of my field of expertise." Cohen laughed. "But if they decide to attack Usea, then we will retaliate with all of our might."

"But of course." Another of his non-aide men agreed. "For that is the code of the Belkan Knights."

"Sir." An aide interrupted. "Message from the Atlantic Federation Headquarters: the Stonehenge ring in the EU has been compromised by the Blue Cosmos."

Cohen raised an eyebrow. "Really now? Send word to our pilots, take that turret down before those terrorists can use it to kill the innocent."

"Yes sir." The aide saluted and rushed out.

_Even though you know that the ring is under our control, you didn't even bat an eyelash. _One of the most venerable men sitting behind Cohen thought. _Looks like you understand exactly why we built those rings, Cohen._

…

While the orders came down to destroy the ring, the Usean pilots deployed for the task were unable to approach the Stonehenge installation, due to it being, y'know, a massive anti-aircraft defensive system.

Cohen, having foresaw this (like everyone else familiar with Stonehenge) only sent and lost a token amount of aircraft in the attack, bolstering Usea's freshly established reputation of being "a protector of the people" in the process. While the attack was done with only a minimal amount of pilots, the subtext was plenty clear for the other two factions: Usea has its own military with an unknown (but possibly very great) production capability…along with their own technology.

This realization led the other two factions to retreat for the next two months, as Usea continued to annex more and more territory until it encompassed almost the entire Eurasian continent, despite the clear threat presented by the Stonehenge defensive system, which fired upon the continent sporadically and seemingly without any real aim.

In response to every attack, Usea (and occasionally ZAFT) would launch a concerted strike with cruise missiles and fighters only to fail abysmally. The Federation (what's left of it) seemed perfectly content to sit in the Northern and Southern Americas and defend their territory against the occasional ZAFT incursion.

This period of simmering war would last through the entire two months…

…

[Equatorial Union, Mercenary Airfield]

…

Cipher, as you might remember, had a contract to clear out the airspace above the EU, which he did in the first week. Due to both his and the other ace's exemplary performances, the EU extended the contract for his entire mercenary company, and they spent the two months flying easy patrols in the skies over the Equatorial Union…which saw a remarkable drop in conflict almost immediately after the creation of Usea, and the rebels practically disappeared when it abandoned its neutrality in favor of joining Usea. Most people credited this to the presence of the Wyvern fighters deployed by the Usean pilots, which were far superior to the Spearheads the EFA fielded.

In particular, Cipher's reputation in combat gave him attention, and most importantly…

"We got a bigger contract this time." Crux said as Cipher took a break from tuning his new machine. A part of him wished that the machine's manual wasn't so poorly written and that they had ZAFT mechanics on-board, or at least mechanics familiar with ZAFT equipment.

"Oh?" Canopus looked at the document Crux was holding. "Well…looks like someone's finally going to do something about that thing."

"What, they're hiring people to attack Stonehenge?" Cipher asked.

"Not quite." Crux shook his head. "They're trying to hire people who can scout the defensive platform long enough for everyone else to have an idea on what it is capable of."

It turns out that this particular version of Stonehenge was perfectly able to make trans-atmospheric attacks. The range on its weird laser weapon wasn't very wide, but it is able to snipe down any satellites that tried to get a read upon its defensive systems.

That little gem of knowledge (found out during the third week of the peaceful two months) was probably why ZAFT stayed the hell out of that particular spot with their orbiting ships.

"Geez, we're two months in and they still couldn't do anything about it?" Chopper groaned. "Man, I don't know about you, but I don't feel like taking this job no matter how good it pays."

_A laser defense system…it probably is the Excalibur. _Cipher thought, and not for the first time. _I wonder if I can get a closer look now that I have this thing?_

"Cipher, you listening?" Chopper tapped him on the shoulder.

"Yeah." Cipher nodded. "This sounds like an interesting job."

"What?!" Chopper exclaimed. "You're insane!"

"Well…it feels like we can do it." Cipher said, looking up at his new unit.

"Look, I know you're good…hell, the best there is, even." Chopper said. "But you and that Guy of yours are going to get yourselves killed!"

Cipher's Guy is actually a ZGMF-600 GuAIZ, a successor to the ZGMF-1017 GINN and ZGMF-515 CGUE.

_Incidentally, let's go with the Japanese pronunciation and call it "Gates"._

Developed with the data from the stolen federation mobile suits, the ZGMF-600 GuAIZ is the next generation front line unit ZAFT is attempting to field in order to replace the GINN. With a body that looks like someone stole a GINN's shoulders and slapped them onto a CGUE, the GuAIZ boasted heavier armor and stronger thrusters, giving it unparalleled performance in space…at least during testing.

The Standard GuAIZ is equipped with head mounted Vulcans, a medium sized shield (itself equipped with small beam emitters that can create claws), a pair of grappling cables equipped with beam spikes, and a beam rifle developed from the GAT-series data, easily equaling to the Gundam's rifles in power output.

Cipher's suit has none of that. The EU contacts were unable to acquire a full production model.

Well, Cipher's suit has the head mounted Vulcans and the grapple cables, but that's it. Instead, it was customized and equipped according to what materials and weaponry they had available. Lacking in experience in mobile suit combat, Cipher simply went with his heart in how to best equip his new unit.

As such, Cipher's customized ZGMF-616 GuAIZ Keeper (Pronounced as 'Gatekeeper') was equipped with a pair of solid swords (Taken from killed GINNS), leg-mounted missile tubes strapped to the armor, underarm auto cannons (Taken from GINNs again) and beam spikes installed in the unit's feet (Special delivery from Gründer). The most impressive upgrade was its extended flight pack—complete with vector thrust engines—that contained both the maneuverability and the power to let Cipher maneuver as he desired within the atmosphere…within reason, since if the g-forces were too much the wings would snap off.

So now he has a GuAIZ that looks like a CGUE with a GINN's shoulders with the spikes of an Aile Strike pack strapped to a rocket engine sticking out from behind it.

At the very least it was all painted nicely.

"By the way, that thing looks like it's going to fall apart at any second." Chopper remarked, gesturing to the GuAIZ.

"Well…it didn't when you said that last week." Cipher laughed. "I can handle it."

Cipher's GuAIZ was painted with a uniform ash-gray with its shoulders and wings painted black. On its chest and shoulders was the emblem of Galm, of the hell hound biting its chain.

"Well…if you say so." Canopus frowned. "Antares actually requested to go as well…Frankly, I don't like the idea of a giant ring of cannons under the control of terrorists, but at the same time I can't, in good conscience, let the two of you walk into a mission with such lopsided conditions."

Cipher smirked. "Yeah. Maybe if they had two of these things it'll be actually be fair."

Chopper made a face. "You just jinxed all of us."

…

[Outside of Stonehenge interception zone, 1100 hours]

…

Cipher's GuAIZ coasted through the sky, flying below and slightly behind a Spearhead with a scorpion for a logo.

Cipher glanced at the plane. "You don't talk much, do you?"

The two spent the past thirty minutes of flight in total silence.

"Chopper does the talking." Antares replied. "There's not much to say out here."

"Just let your flying do the talking, I see…" Cipher smiled. "So which outfit were you from? I don't remember seeing an emblem like that."

"Mercenary." Antares said tersely. "And different from you and Chopper entirely."

Cipher thought about that for a moment. "So…ever heard of a William Bishop?"

"No."

Cipher rolled his eyes. Antares being naturally unsociable made this conversation happen much later and slower than it should have. His threat radar then beeped a warning, showing another fighter coming in to meet them…roughly from the direction of the Giga Float.

"Unidentified fighter, state your intentions." Cipher said over the general frequency.

"Galm One? Is that you?" Bartlett replied, surprised. "I thought I recognized the paintjob. When did you switch to a mobile suit?"

"Not too long ago." Cipher admitted. "I'm getting the hang of it, but it's certainly a lot easier to fly without having to worry about my six all the time."

Bartlett, in an X-02, positioned itself next to Cipher.

"Are we done chit-chatting?" Antares butted in.

"Just about; and who might you be?" Bartlett asked.

The reply was terse. "Antares, Antares One."

"Never heard of you." Bartlett laughed. "Well, if you're flying on Cipher's wing then I guess you have what it takes."

"He does." Cipher laughed. "More importantly, are we all here to take down Stonehenge?"

"Yeah." Bartlett scowled. "It's about high time we killed that overgrown bastard."

…

[Everywhere]

…

Suddenly, every Television station was given a special broadcast (that they could show, if they wanted…and all of them did). The good people of everywhere were then treated to a far view of the Stonehenge defensive ring, with the title text "USEA MOUNTS ATTACK ON TERRORIST INSTALLATION" scrolling on the bottom.

And, naturally, everyone stopped to look.

…

[Stonehenge Airspace, 1100 hours]

…

"Incoming!" Cipher warned.

Best thing about the GuAIZ: it has far better electronics than the other units.

The three units broke formation and dove to the deck, almost hugging the ocean surface, as explosions sounded above them.

"Looks like they saw us coming." Bartlett muttered.

_It's not like the EU or the Giga Float are outside Stonehenge's range; they knew we were coming from a long ways away. Why did they start shooting now? _Cipher wondered. He then raised an eyebrow. "What the hell…? Incoming! Break!"

Everyone pulled up as an explosion buffeted the ocean surface, digging out holes in the ocean beneath them.

"Looks like they're using new ammunition. Keep your eyes peeled!" Bartlett ordered.

"I see it! Damn…that thing's huge!" Antares exclaimed.

Cipher glanced down. "High energy signature…break!"

The three crafts diverted from their approach once more…as a beam of light cut through where they used to be.

"Yep, that's the Excalibur alright." Cipher and Bartlett said almost simultaneously. "More from Stonehenge!" Cipher added.

"Jeez, they really don't like us." Bartlett grinned, diving for the deck once more to avoid the next barrage.

"We should thank them for only firing two rounds at a time." Cipher laughed. "Laser! Antares, break left!"

He does, and the laser harmlessly throws itself into the ocean.

…

[Stonehenge Control Center]

…

"Why aren't they stopping?!" The commander in charge demanded as the two planes and one mobile suit dodged again and again, flying ever closer to the Stonehenge ring. An aide opened his mouth to answer, but the commander overrode him. "Activate all assets! Those guys are dangerous! Kill them with everything we have!"

…

[Our guys]

…

"We might have made them angry." Cipher said lightly. "Break hard, Stonehenge is opening up on us."

The three craft scatter in different directions as the Stonehenge rounds obliterate the sky around them.

_What's this? _Cipher wondered as a small blip showed up on radar and vanished.

A new voice came over the radio. "It's a cruise missile! All units raise your altitude!"

"Who are you?!" Antares demanded.

"Listen to him!" Bartlett snapped back, climbing with full afterburners.

The other units obeyed and zoomed to above 5000 feet before the sky below them lit up with one hell of a fireworks show.

"Good to have you here, Thunderhead." Bartlett breathed.

"Thunderhead, Roger." The voice said…it sounded like it was smiling. "Wardog, and all allied assets, I'll be taking over the role of electronic support. I'm uploading combat data to your flight computers now."

"What was that…damn!" Cipher dropped like a stone again to avoid a Stonehenge shot. "Let us talk, dammit!" He complained to the massive gun trying to kill him.

"All units, Stonehenge is protected by multiple layers of defenses! Don't let your guard down!" Thunderhead called out.

"I can see that!" Antares gritted his teeth and barely avoided being fried by the Excalibur laser.

…

"They're…steadily getting closer." The Stonehenge commander observed. "Are we using everything we have?"

"No, but-"

The Commander grabbed the operator by the collar of his uniform. "Use everything we have. Do you understand me? If they reach us we DIE. They're going to get us, and we're going to DIE."

_Geez, aren't you a bright ray of sunshine. _The operator thought. "Yes sir."

…

"Enemy submarine launching burst missile!" Thunderhead warned. "Climb!"

"Dammit!" Bartlett climbed again and suddenly inverted to avoid being blown to pieces by Stonehenge. "I regret my life choices right now!"

"You said it!" Cipher laughed, zooming across the skies and darting around the massive explosions made by the Stonehenge rounds. "Oh SHIT that was close!" He then exclaimed as a beam of light zoomed by beneath him.

"What the…more missiles coming from above!" Thunderhead warned again. "Missile fired from enemy sub! Incoming from Stonehenge! Jesus!"

Antares gritted his teeth. "Stonehenge packs this much firepower?" He dove to skim the water surface, then climbed again, and felt his Spearhead shake from the strain.

"Where's Jesus coming from?!" Barlett demanded with a grin.

Thunderhead counted down. "3…2…1…impact!"

The sky lit up with a multitude of explosions from the Strangereal super weapons, and the three crafts disappeared from view.

…

[Archangel]

…

"Wow, that's insane." Talisman breathed, watching the displayed image on the TV turn completely white from the explosions.

"Do you know what they were?" Kira asked, feeling the cold, clammy despair at the bottom of his stomach.

"The Stonehenge ring you're probably familiar with…it's a large scale rail gun system." Talisman said, "With enough power to destroy asteroid fragments with a single shot. The laser is the Excalibur laser defense system…it's also the thing they shot into space a few weeks back, probably, and it looks like those guys are using two different types of Burst missiles." _One from the Yuktobanian submarines, and one that was launched over Gracemeria. _He thought to himself. "It looks like both missiles are built to deal serious damage over a wide area."

"We need to get our asses over there." Blaze snarled. "All of those weapons are long-range weapons; if Stonehenge isn't destroyed right now there's no telling what's going to happen or who they're going to target at next."

"They were silent for two months. Maybe they'll be silent for more." Natarle said hopefully.

"Do you want your safety to rely on crossing your fingers?" Mu La Flaga sighed. "Captain?"

Murrue nodded. "We're deploying as well; let Morgenroete know."

Following the declaration from Cohen about the creation of Usea, the Archangel took it as a sign that maybe sticking with the Federation wasn't the best idea and deserted, fleeing to Orb for repairs and resupply.

Their arrival into Orb's harbor was quite timely, as it coincided with a shuttle from space…a shuttle carrying prominent ZAFT politician Siegel Clyne, his daughter Lacus, and several bodyguards in his employment.

Two of those bodyguards stand with the Archangel crew right now as they watch the news in a Morgenroete break room.

"I don't think the Archangel should deploy." Kira said. "The ship won't be fast enough to escape that kind of punishment."

"I'm of the same mind." Mu La Flaga nodded. "But do we have the range to get there and fight if we launch from Orb?"

"I don't think any of us have a craft capable of flying out that far on its own." Murakumo Gai, one of the bodyguards, said.

"Not even that Gundam of yours?" Kira asked. Gai shook his head slightly. "Damn."

"I suppose we can take spare batteries." The other mercenary thought aloud. "It will ensure that we have enough energy to fight, at least…although it means we'll need to be picked up by the Archangel later."

Murrue brushed them all off. "The Archangel will sail at maximum speed towards the Stonehenge installation and use the nearby island for cover; we will then deploy combat aircraft from the ship."

"I uh…" Mu stared at her. "I don't think it's going to be that easy."

Murrue smiled. "It won't be…but it sure as hell won't be for a lack of trying."

Talisman, however, was suddenly struck by a thought. _We pilots from the other world consider Stonehenge…and all these other superweapons, to be a bane towards peace. Having one would put you on all of our hit lists for a long, long time, so who would gather them all in one place…and more importantly, why?_

…

[Giga Float]

…

Two Gründer mechanics looked at a pair of empty cuffs still attached to a chair, but no longer attached to the bolted-down table.

Incidentally, the table was also no longer bolted down.

"Is it our problem?" One of them asked. "Is it going to be our problem?"

"Nah." The other one replied, casually pocketing his screwdriver in one of his pockets.

…

[Skies over Stonehenge]

…

Ribbon, in his commandeered X-02, zoomed towards the battlefield, every pore in his body screaming to destroy the giant ring of cannons. It could be considered destiny, almost.

So focused he was, he didn't notice the aircraft bearing down on him until it was almost too late…not that it mattered, as he was going far too fast to actually maneuver even though he was practically hugging the ocean surface.

As a result, Ribbon zoomed past the unknown fighter trying to intercept him and caught a glimpse of the fighter's body.

_What was that? _Ribbon wondered, going over the shape of the aircraft in his mind that was sent to stop him and realizing that he's never seen one before…and then noting with alarm that it was actually catching up to him.

"Well, if you want to tango, now isn't the time." Ribbon muttered, slowing down to a speed that actually let him maneuver.

"Ooh…a Ribbon." The pilot of the other aircraft said. "This is going to be fun."

Mobius One waited for the other aircraft to get close to him before executing a barrel roll, and as he did so he caught a glimpse of the emblem on the other aircraft. _A butterfly?_

He was then surprised once again as the aircraft in front of him executed an inhumanly tight full turn while bleeding off speed, getting behind him once again.

The other pilot laughed, unheard by Mobius One. "Gotcha, Ribbon!"

Mobius One smiled slightly despite himself and turned sharply to avoid the pair of missiles fired at him from the other plane. "Interesting…I haven't seen someone like you around before." He muttered.

The other aircraft was no slouch, and it turned to align Mobius One in its gun sight and opened fire with its vulcans.

Mobius One responded by suddenly flipping and dropping altitude again to dodge the trail of bullets, almost skimming the water surface in the process. He then pulled up and high as the other fighter flew straight to gain speed before following him.

"Interesting." Mobius One muttered and performed a relaxed turn, breaking off his climb to let the other fighter catch up.

The other fighter happily took the invitation and fired a missile at Mobius One, who jinked heavily in response and released a flare.

_It seems to have trouble following. _Mobius One thought, noting the unstable speed of the other aircraft and its occasionally sluggish controls. _It's not controlled by a human pilot, I think…not a Natural or a Coordinator._

"Whoa!" The other pilot exclaimed as Mobius One's X-02 executed a Pugachev's Cobra, its nose pulling straight into the air as if sliding on its tail. In response, the other craft slowed down by simply rolling.

"Thought so." Mobius One murmured, letting his nose drop straight down towards the ocean before hitting his engines again.

"Hey! Come back here!" The other pilot nosed down to follow, and stuck close to Ribbon's tail as he performed another barrel roll.

Except this time, the other fighter suddenly lost control and fell out of the sky for a few precious seconds, giving Ribbon enough time to sit behind it and fire his guns.

_That looks like a CFA-44. _Mobius One thought as the other aircraft regained control and evaded most of the fire he poured upon it. _But it's a bit stockier than normal…a customized unit?_

As the other aircraft climbed up again, Mobius One smiled slightly and followed.

…

[Stonehenge]

…

The commander of the installation sat back to watch the dogfight on the largest monitor he had. "Whew…I don't know who that fighter was but thank god he's there."

One of the war room operators scanned the screens in front of him. "We're finally getting readings again from our scanners."

As it turns out, firing a lot of large scale weapons in one place tend to be bad for the electronics, no matter how well shielded they are.

"Good, good…do we see anything?" The commander asked.

"Visual scanners have no contact." Another operator reported. "There's a lot of smoke and a few clouds in the sky."

The commander scratched his chin. "Hmm…don't deactivate any of our weapons, prepare for a second barrage."

"Are you sure, sir?" An operator asked. "This seems like a bit of overkill for just three enemy units."

"One of them is the Demon Lord of the Round Table." The commander clenched his fists. "Against him, nothing is overkill."

…

[Ocean around Stonehenge]

…

"Cipher, you alright?" Bartlett asked.

"Yeah." Cipher breathed. "Unit status normal, if we want to hit them now's the time." Cipher had burned the wings out and detached them to both drag the other two fighters down to the ocean surface and provide them with some form of protection against the steel rain.

The three of them stared at the far off shoreline of Stonehenge.

Bartlett gritted his teeth. "I think we've gone far enough. We've learned that this Stonehenge installation's got a lot of cards to play…and I'm pretty sure it has more." He then switched through a few radio channels. "Heartbreak One to Thunderhead, do you read?"

Nothing.

"Well, I expected as much." Bartlett grumbled. "We should get out of here."

"We can definitely hit it from here, though." Antares insisted.

"I agree." Cipher said. "But at the same time, if they throw all that shit at us again we're not going to get away from it a second time…hell, they might even bombard us until they're definitely sure we're dead next time."

"Yeah. All units, return to base, we need to be smart about this." Bartlett declared, and the three units skimmed along the ocean surface away from Stonehenge.

…

"Looks like they couldn't do it." Kira observed as the three units going into the Stonehenge airspace retreated. "Maybe they're worried it had more stuff to throw at them?"

"Smart move." Mu La Flaga agreed. "I'm pretty sure all of us thought it was just a Stonehenge installation with a high powered laser…not that it wasn't deadly enough already." He chuckled drily. "But if what we've just seen is any indication, that thing probably has more defenses waiting…conventional, unconventional, you name it."

"Yikes." Kira gulped. "Not going to lie, I'm getting cold feet."

"You and me both." Mu laughed. "But we're not going to back down from this."

"Imagine if its full power is unleashed on a country." Kira nodded and scowled. _Athrun…if you want to pull more of that berserker thing of yours, now's the time._

…

[ZAFT Base Carpentaria]

…

Athrun, despite his desire to burn Stonehenge to the ground, was going back to Space.

"Orders from your pops, I don't think you can ignore them now that he's practically the king of Plant." Dearka muttered. "Though I have to wonder, why is Yzak going as well?"

"Beats me." Yzak shrugged. "Oy, Athrun."

Athrun shook his head. "I imagine that he has his reasons…hell if I know what they are right now."

The parent and child hasn't had much in terms of contact for a while.

Yzak scratched his face. "Weird."

…

[Stonehenge Airspace]

…

The battle between Mobius One and the Butterfly aircraft was rapidly drawing to a close.

The butterfly aircraft jinked left and right, trying to shake off the Wyvern sitting close on its tail, but to no avail. After figuring out the enemy's maneuverability, Ribbon simply stayed a little but further than normal against it, and as such any of the Butterfly aircraft's sudden maneuvering was countered by a swift streak of bullets on the aircraft's fuselage.

As a result, the butterfly aircraft is looking a little worse for the wear.

The Butterfly aircraft performed a barrel roll one more time, and Mobius One responded by firing an XLAA and detonating it immediately.

"What? You cheater!" The butterfly pilot said to herself as her maneuver brought her straight into the path of the XLAA debris and shoved said metallic debris straight into her engines.

The act wasn't fatal by any means, but it was able to slow the recovery of the butterfly craft long enough for Mobius One to get behind it again.

"Wow, this is going for way longer than I thought." The butterfly aircraft pilot exclaimed.

Another voice chided her. "This has gone for way too long. Your time is almost up."

"Ugh. fine." The pilot huffed and then hit full afterburners. "We'll play again someday, Ribbon."

Since the two weren't communicating on a general line, Mobius One didn't hear the message. He was, however, very surprised at the butterfly aircraft simply pulling away and zooming off into the sky.

"Huh." Mobius One looked down at his gauges. "Damn…got too carried away." He said upon noting that he was almost out of energy, and then raised an eyebrow in surprise as he received a private message containing a set of coordinates, very close to where he was now.

Feeling like he doesn't have anything to lose (and unwilling to go back to the Giga Float lest Bartlett cuff him to something heavier than a bolted down table) Mobius One turned and headed towards the specified coordinates.

…

[Unspecified Coordinates]

…

Soon, Mobius one saw the arrowhead-shaped hull of a Spengler-class Federation aircraft carrier on the water, and quickly received a

"We have one aircraft coming in." An air traffic reported. "Unidentified aircraft, please state your identifications."

"Don't have any." Mobius One said tersely. "Someone gave me a map to be here."

"Roger that, aircraft. Do you have a callsign?" The tower operator asked.

"The callsign is Mobius One." Ribbon replied.

There was a sound not unlike a man falling off of his chair. "Uh…sure. Mobius One, you are cleared to land. Welcome to the Kestrel."

_Weird name. _Mobius One thought. "Roger, I'm coming in to land."

…

"So…what's this about, sir…?" Ribbon asked once he took a seat in the captain's quarters (by special invitation). The captain sitting across from him was old, but had an air of authority that came from a lifetime of service and command.

"Captain Anderson…it's an honor to meet the ace of the Independent State Allied Forces, Mobius One." The captain cleared his throat. "As you may be aware, the presence of the Stonehenge defensive system presents a clear and grave danger to the safety and well-being of Usea…or more importantly, the people living within the Usean borders."

Ribbon didn't think much about the politics of the world at this moment. "I am aware. What do you plan to do about it?"

"Look at this." Anderson directed Ribbon to a small television screen, where the two of them watched some of the footage of Stonehenge's interception against Cipher's group (though Ribbon didn't know it was them). "It's quite apparent that this particular installation has more than one set of defenses…attempting to attack it without knowing its weaknesses is tantamount to suicide."

_Plus that weird fighter might show up again. _Ribbon thought. "Ok, go on."

"That is why we are currently gathering skilled pilots, so that when we do have the necessary information, we will be able to collectively assault the defensive system in one go." Captain Anderson said. "And to facilitate that eventuality, we've been ordered to give you this." He hands over a letter, a medal, and a disk.

"Ok…what's this?" Ribbon asked, tapping the pile.

"This is an Executive Order of Action." Captain Anderson said. "As long as you have it, Usean assets within your vicinity will grant you unquestioned support, so long as you ask. It is our way of organizing a very large array of pilots in what will likely be a very chaotic situation."

Ribbon frowned. "And you're doing this for an independent pilot why?"

"Because we have an interest in protecting the people, and…well, to do that we need skilled pilots." Anderson smiles slightly. "There's no catch, I can promise you that."

Ribbon, seeing no real downsides to having something like this, took the Order of Action and pocketed it.

"Excellent." Anderson stood up, and Ribbon did the same. "We'll refuel and resupply your X-02; I imagine you wouldn't want to stay on a possibly hostile carrier for very long."

"If I had that kind of doubt I wouldn't have landed to begin with." Ribbon replied.

Both were suddenly interrupted by a very harried ensign. "Sir!" He said with a quick salute. "Orb has been occupied by the EFA!"

…

What's left of the Federation has received a unique opportunity; it was no public enemy number one, as far as the politics of the world stage was concerned.

This meant that any action it takes will be vilified by all of its enemies…in other words, it was now free to take any kind of action that it saw fit.

As such, the EFA deployed a substantial fleet off of the coast of Orb.

"I see no reason to bother with such trifles. It's not like they'll believe us anyway." Murata Azrael, leader of the Blue Cosmos and freshly home on Earth from Copernicus, said in response to one of his officers suggesting that they demand Orb to surrender. "All units commence attack, secure the airspace over Orb and bombard it with EMP warheads, stop them from doing anything stupid like destroying their Mass Driver."

"Do you really think they'll do that?" One of his officers muttered as he watched the EFA's new toy, the GAT-01 Strike Dagger, deploy one by one off of the ships along with the F-7D Spearheads.

"Well…" Azrael said thoughtfully. "They have that Giga Float, and Orb's leader is a fierce protector of his country's independence. Seems pretty likely to me."

"Won't that big cannon shoot at us?" Another officer inquired.

"If Usea wants to keep their knight in shining armor routine, they won't." Azrael laughed. _It's a pity the Extended project isn't quite ready yet, but we'll make do with what we've got here. _He thought to himself. "Did you send that message to Orb though?" He asked one of the officers, "The message I specifically penned for him?"

…

Fortunately, the Archangel departed from Orb several hours before it came under attack.

Unfortunately, this meant that the ship was no longer able to assist Orb in its defenses.

While Orb's military was technologically formidable, and they were able to roll out several M1 Astrays just in time for the fight, it was ultimately futile as the Orb forces lacked a battle line and thus folded quickly against the EFA's rapid and relentless assault.

As such, the situation is immensely bad for Orb, with the EFA forces rolling over the Orb emplacements and tanks as if they were barely there. The only good news, it can be said, is that the EFA has yet to deploy ground troops to secure their foothold on Orb; Morgenroete was still tightly defended, and the amount of footsoldiers the Federation could spare was certainly finite.

…

Uzumi Nara Athha, the current Chief Representative of Orb, seethed in anger as the letter he received from the Federation suffered in his grip.

It read: "Dear Uzumi: if you do anything stupid like blowing up your Mass Driver, I'll have everyone in Orb lined up and shot." It was signed by Murata Azrael.

Uzumi knew Azrael was no fool: an action like that would sign the death sentence for the Blue Cosmos and the Federation as a whole…under normal circumstances. However, now that the Blue Cosmos held the Stonehenge installation (as far as Uzumi knows) they were already in a position beyond recovery…and most people would have no problems isolating the Blue Cosmos from the Federation should it conduct a genocide of this scale.

And then Azrael would simply watch his faction burn to the ground while he makes a quiet exit, protected as he is by the Federation's commanders.

Uzumi consoled himself with the thought that his daughter, the rebellious tomboy that she was, snuck onto the Archangel when she thought he wasn't paying attention.

…

"Oh, so they did it after all?" Was Cohen's response upon hearing of Orb's plight.

"Sir?" The aide asked uncertainly.

"And here I thought Azrael was just a warmongering idiot." Cohen smirked. "So, gentlemen." He turned to face the Grey Men seated behind him across a massive round table. "Your thoughts?"

"It's time for the Knights to make its entrance." One of them said with a grin, as the rest nodded their approval.

"I thought as much." Cohen laughed. "Prepare a press conference and give me a direct line to our commanders out on the field."

…

[Archangel, 1 hour into the EFA's invasion of Orb]

…

The mood aboard the Archangel was suitably grim.

"Damn. They really went out of their way with this one." Mu La Flaga muttered.

"Let's go." Kira scowled. "Whoever they are, let's go."

Murrue glanced at Kira; ever since he realized that a certain Lacus Clyne was still in Orb the boy has been a bit restless. "Kira, we can't fight an entire army."

"Like hell we can't." Blaze growled. "Stonehenge can wait, it's not going anywhere."

"Orb's occupational force isn't going anywhere either." Natarle pointed out, earning her a glare from Blaze. "That being said, he's right. Stonehenge isn't an immediate threat…the loss of Orb is."

"Because that's where we get our supplies, right?" Murrue sighed. "So how do you guys plan to defeat an entire invading army…without them burning Orb to the ground in the process?"

"We hit them hard and fast." Talisman responded. "We hit them NOW, before they have had a chance to deploy their ground forces in any real capacity."

"That sounds all nice and good, but you can't fight off hundreds of enemies alone." Natarle said. "And by the time you've made it back to Orb chances are you won't have the energy left to fight."

"So we'll sink the invasion ships and get the hell out." Blaze growled.

"And if it takes us three hours to go back to Orb by ship to save energy it certainly won't be fast…" Mu mused. "Well, this is plenty bad."

"We'll take spare canisters." Blaze snapped. "I'm done sitting around. Let's do this."

"What the…wait!" Murrue said, but Blaze had already charged out of the bridge. She tugged at her hair in frustration. "Arg…why is he so stubborn? Neuman, we're heading back to Orb, maximum speed! All units prepare to sortie!"

…

…

Little did Blaze know, someone already pre-empted his plan.

One of the Federation ship officers heard a threat alarm go off. "Captain, we have an incoming contact moving towards us low and fast."

"Shoot it down. Anything that comes near the invasion ship is an enemy." The Captain said dismissively. "Request supporting fire from the nearby ships as well."

"Yes sir. This is the Invasion Fleet Defense Task Force Flagship requesting allied supporting fire…"

…

The enemy unit was a GuAIZ, a ZAFT unit that the ZAFT army itself has yet to deploy in any serious numbers. The GuAIZ, utilizing its powerful engines, maneuvered through the streams of incoming fire like a dancer and leveled its thin, long looking gun at the nearest invasion ship, still a long distance away.

…

The captain of the Invasion fleet defense flagship then blinked in surprise as a beam of light emitted from the unknown enemy and struck one of the invasion ships, causing an explosion that ripped the ship in half, probably killing all the soldiers on board as well.

"What the…recall our task forces! Protect the invasion fleet!" The captain ordered, before another streak of light caught his attention.

…

The GuAIZ pilot glanced at the burning remains of what used to be the bridge of the nearest ship, before flying low and hard towards his next target.

…

[Five minutes later]

…

Murata Azrael looked on, stunned, at the image of the invasion fleet ships in various stages of burning and sinking.

"And all this was done by a single enemy unit." Azrael half stated, half asked.

"Yes…yes sir." The aide gulped. "We have an image of the aggressor."

The GuAIZ appeared on screen. It was white, with a single wing painted Red, and carrying a large, menacing looking gun in its left hand.

"ZAFT…!" Azrael snarled.

…

Speaking of ZAFT.

As far as the invasion of Orb goes, ZAFT could not have cared less.

Sure, there was a release of a public statement condoning the Federation's actions, but nobody really cared or expected it to work.

Instead, ZAFT was busy preparing itself for an attack on Copernicus City…and the Artemis Station.

So they're sitting this one out, but as Rau Le Creuse rightfully said: "I'm sure they'll find a way to blame us for something somehow."

…

[Archangel Bridge]

…

"Eh? Orb's saved?" Kira asked hopefully.

"Not quite." Miriallia responded, still manning the controls. "But it looks like someone struck and destroyed all of the EFA invasion ships…so they're probably not going to have the troops ready in time for a full occupation."

"It doesn't change the fact that Morgenroete and many of Orb's key positions have been taken by the EFA." Natarle added. "However, at least we now have a little breathing room…whoever that pilot is he did us a world of good today."

"Indeed…we can now at least make a plan." Murrue smiled a little. "So someone drag Blaze out of his cockpit before he sulks himself to death or something."

…

[Giga Float]

…

_I recognize that paintjob _was Ribbon's first thought when saw the grainy image of the white-and-red GuAIZ. _Funny how things work out._

"Looks like he's here too, huh?" Bartlett remarked upon seeing Ribbon stare at the display on the screen.

"Imagine Cipher's face when he sees this." Ribbon grinned. "So what's the plan?"

The two of them turn to look at the tactical map projected on a large table behind them.

"We're hitting them at dawn tomorrow morning." Yellow 13 said. "While I would've liked a night raid to increase our chances of success…"

"…we run into too great of a chance to damage civilians buildings as a result." Ribbon finished. "So we're going to fight in the daylight against a bigger enemy."

"Something we're all used to by now, I suspect." Bartlett chuckled. "Now, since I didn't see the Archangel sortie to defend Orb, I'm assuming that they've left…probably to tackle Stonehenge. Knowing where they get their supplies, they'll probably come in through here." Bartlett indicated the southwest corner of the map. "We'll come in through up here." Bartlett pointed to the northern edge. "Since the majority of EFA warships are grouped near here" He pointed to the northeastern corner" Our plan is to drive clean through the area and head to Morgenroete…"

[Archangel]

"…Since Morgenroete is Orb's primary military base and houses the majority of Orb's firepower, freeing it will add considerably to our success." Mu La Flaga said, pointing to a map that looked very similar to the one used by Bartlett. "After the liberation of Morgenroete, we will swing clockwise through Orb and strike at every EFA unit we see." Arrows denoting the Archangel units do just that on the map. "With luck, we'll liberate enough of Orb's assets to let them form a battle line by themselves while we flow to different combat areas…"

[Equatorial Union]

"…But ultimately, if we do not destroy the enemy fleet, it will all be meaningless." Canopus concluded, as arrows denoting the EU units flew towards the right side of the map. "Thus, following the liberation of the majority of Orb's ground assets, all available units will assault the enemy fleet directly. The goal is the total destruction of the enemy fleet and the liberation of Orb." He looked at the assembled pilots. "Everyone get some sleep. It's going to be a tough morning for all of us tomorrow."

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes:

Stonehenge is now SUPER Stonehenge.

And Orb is now SUPER screwed Orb. But only for the next twelve hours or so.


	21. Stage 18 - Boiling Point

{ === + === }

[Giga Float, 0700 Hours]

"Mister Ribbon, how do you like your new aircraft?"

Ribbon circled around the finished prototype he helped develop. "I have to admit I've never seen anything like this before."

The chief Gründer Engineer laughed. "And we've never worked on something like this before, either! It will be an honor for its maiden flight to be under the hands of the Reaper himself."

Ribbon stepped back from his new plane, marveling at how…stable, the design looks, despite having been born from the two most unstable aircrafts in the history of Strangereal aviation.

His new aircraft looked like a fatter, longer version of a CFA-44 Nosferatu. Data gathered from the XFA-27 was also incorporated within it, as well as EFA, Orb, and ZAFT design philosophies…the end product, while still retaining the overall body shape of the Nosferatu, now contained drastically enhanced electronics, a reinforced airframe (complete with a refined Phase Shift armor that eats less power when active) and, perhaps most impressively, armored vectored thrusters located all around the body of the aircraft to give it both unparalleled mobility in the sky (owing to the G-force dampeners taken from the Strike's data) and impressive agility in the vacuum of space.

"We've decided to call it the CFA-144 'Dracula'." The Chief mechanic said, getting a raised eyebrow from Ribbon. "What? It's good naming sense."

Ribbon looked at the fighter painted in his colors (a pale metallic blue) and didn't see the connection. "What are its armaments like?"

"Climb inside and find out." The mechanic grinned.

Ribbon obliged, turned on the main computer, and whistled.

In front of him was a massive blank screen nestled between two other panels of displays. He touched the main panel and was surprised to find out that it was a computer monitor (with a sophisticated graphical user interface) and then his attention was grabbed by the large, shiny button labeled "WEAPONS".

_Eight sets of auto-cannons, with two in the back; all on swivel mounts. _He tallied in his head. _Eight light missile hardpoints for dogfights,_ _four heavy missile hardpoints for the large targets, and a pair of Electromagnetic Launchers to tackle anything stubborn like mobile suits._

His eyes then wandered down to the bottom of the list. "OLDS? What's this?"

A mechanical voice then made him jump. "That would be O-D-L-S, not OLDS, sir." Ribbon noted that a small light was blinking when the voice was talking.

"I take it you're my companion AI?" Ribbon asked, having seen Lowe's partner computer 'Hachi' yesterday.

"Yes, I will act as your flight support within this aircraft." The voice replied…very cool, calm, and collected.

Ribbon pulled up the preflight checklist on the computer monitor in front of him. "Do you have a name?" He asked idly as he scanned the long list.

"You can refer to me as 'NEMO', sir."

Ribbon felt a slight shiver run down his spine. "Nemo, huh? Nice to meet you, buddy."

"Certainly. It is an honor to meet the legendary Mobius One, as well." NEMO's response, though robotic, carried a faint hint of pride. "And it is certainly an honor to act as his companion AI."

Mobius One chuckled slightly. "I don't know about the 'legendary' part; sorry about the rush, NEMO, but we need to get to work right now, time is of the essence."

"I understand, Mobius One. What will your first task be?"

Ribbon took a deep breath. "We'll be recalibrating the missiles first. Do you have data on QAAMs used by the ISAF forces during the…my…war?"

"Of course, sir."

"Excellent, load it up."

…

…

[Orb Airspace, Very High Up, 0800]

…

…

A shimmer sailed through the skies. A shimmer that, when viewed from above, was the shape of a large airliner with a radome mounted on its back.

Actually, make that two shimmers: one large, one small.

"This is AWACS Thunderhead, attached to the Usean Independent Task Force 'Arrows'." One of the AWACS reported. "Hey, Other AWACS."

The Other AWACS was a comparatively smaller aircraft, a personal jet…with a Radome on its back.

"This is AWACS Canopus, Mercenary affiliation." Canopus Responded. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Usea is also participating in this operation, good to have you in the area."

"Sir, Thunderhead was a very important AWACS unit; it served the Wardog squadron until they became the Razgriz." Crux said (off radio).

Thunderhead didn't hear him, naturally. "I wish that were the case. Usea is still scrambling to form a cohesive attack unit, so we won't even be able to send an advanced strike force." He said. "And besides, sending lone units into held territory is tantamount to suicide."

"Is Usea worried about Stonehenge?" Canopus asked.

"They are, but liberating Orb is more important." Thunderhead replied. "I think high command has sent a few ships to distract Stonehenge, but I'll be surprised if it works for any more than a few seconds."

_Stonehenge has actually never left Usean control, but they don't know that. Shh._

"If they coated their ships in the same stuff we use, I think they'd have a chance." Crux commented. "Seriously though, Ustio made some pretty good stuff."

The bottoms of the two AWACS aircrafts were coated with a special material that made them invisible from the naked eye and radar…so long as the radar was aimed at them from below. Due to how expensive the material was only select AWACS aircrafts were given this special paintjob.

This, incidentally, is why no AWACS unit other than ISAF's Sky Eye was visible during operations; ISAF was too poor to pay for it during the beginning of the war, and by the end they had no more need of it.

"Yeah, I remember when I saw a video of Mobius One during the battle at Comona." Thunderhead muttered. "It was from one of the operators in an E-767 that day. That shit stays with you, y'know?"

Crux had also seen that video. It was mandatory for all would-be AWACS operators enlisted after the Erusean war, as it was a good example of how not having a good read on the battlefield would leave you dead. "I know what you mean; I had nightmares for a few days after I saw it."

"Chasing down a Blackbird, the AWACS, and the Tanker in one go before engaging with the Yellows." Thunderhead summed up the first minute of the video. "He did things with an Eagle nobody thought was possible."

"He's that good, huh?" Canopus wondered. "I feel like Antares would give him a run for his money."

"Nobody outflies Mobius One." Crux and Thunderhead replied as one. "Well, except maybe Cipher." Crux added.

"The Demon Lord of the Round Table…" Thunderhead said in awe. "Man, I don't know about the rest of you, but if the two of them got something like the X-02 the Feds can just pack up and call it a day."

"The new Usea still hasn't reinvented their compressed ammo holds, have they?" Crux asked.

"So far it doesn't look like it's possible. The tech-head I talked to said it was something about a fundamental difference in physics; their old methods just plain doesn't work." Thunderhead replied. "Weird, really. They can make giant robots in this world but can't figure out how to stuff 60 missiles into each other."

"Was that how it worked?" Crux laughed. "That seemed like it would cause some serious problems."

"How else do you explain a plane dying after a single shot?" Thunderhead replied with a grin.

"Alright, that's enough." Canopus brought them back in line. "Allied units are entering the operational airspace, let's get to work."

…

…

[First Operation: Anti-Warship Operation, Giga Float Team]

[Participants: Captain Bartlett (Heartbreak One, XS-02), Yellow 13 (Yellow 13, XS-02)]

Orb's main island, marginally larger than the island Morgenroete is housed on (Onogoro island) is comprised of two major terrain features: cities, and dead volcanoes.

_It's also surrounded by water, but that's kind of a given due to its status as an island._

One particular city was built next to a very circular gulf, providing protection to any ships within that gulf…so long as the city perimeter was secured and properly utilized to protect against aircraft attacks.

This city, incidentally, is also the closest position to Giga Float, and the gulf it's built around housed a small detachment of Federation warships, escorted by a small fleet of Des Moines and Arkansas class cruisers.

At 0900 hours, one of the early warning radars on one of the warships chirped, a sign that it picked up contacts.

"How many of them are there?" The captain asked the operator.

"Two enemy crafts, coming in high and fast." The operator responded. "Your orders, sir?"

_No sane person would attack a fleet with just two aircraft. _ The captain thought. "Alert all units and scramble all air assets, shoot those fighters down."

…

"Looks like they're ready for us." Bartlett remarked, as blips started appearing on radar.

"Doesn't surprise me any." Yellow 13 responded, checking the armaments on his Refined Wyvern one more time. "Yellow 13 to Thunderhead, requesting guidance."

The two groups had met shortly before the two fighters entered Orb airspace.

"Thunderhead roger, sending data on enemy ground emplacements." The AWACS replied, safe in the sky behind its advanced invisible coating. "Their aircraft are just starting to take off, so hurry up."

"Roger, Heartbreak One engaging."

"Yellow 13 Engaging."

Both of them armed their XAGMs for fire.

We should take a brief moment to describe the XS-02. In terms of appearance, it is similar to the X-02's streamlined appearance with all of its differences being under the hood…namely, its engine. The XS-02 uses a variant of the same engine found in the Moebius crafts that the EFA uses, which is an engine that does not require air intakes for combustion.

This meant that the air intakes on the X-02 could be modified into weapon storage instead, giving the aircraft better staying time in combat. The XS-02 Refined Wyvern carries four normal missiles, four XLAAs for extreme-range air to air engagements, four XAGMs for the particularly tough ground targets, two QAAMs for that extremely annoying air target, and its dubiously useful bomblet dispenser to ensure that everything on the ground in a long straight line dies to things exploding on their faces. And it also has its gun.

In any event, the enemy ground units (a mixture of slow-moving attack Heli VTOL craft and the MA-01A Strike Dagger) stationed in the city received an unpleasant surprise when the two aircraft attacking their fleet simply stayed out of range as if they could predict the movement patterns of the defenders.

"I don't care if we don't hit a thing, just start firing!" The captain commands after yet another team complained about not having a thing to fire at. "Shoot those fighters down, goddammit!"

…

"There's an opening to your right in 150 meters." Thunderhead suddenly said (as opposed to the past few minutes of merely reporting enemy positions). "That will be your chance!"

"Alright, let's do this!" Bartlett grinned as he made a high-g turn at the indicated point of entry and hit full afterburners, with Yellow 13 following closely after him.

"Oh shit, they're gunning for the carrier!" One of the smarter EFA field captains realized. "Get on the roof and shoot them down!"

His squad of two Daggers and four VTOLs (automated) rose up to above the city skyline to intercept the rapidly approaching R-Wyverns.

The four automated VTOL crafts die to streams of bullet fire almost immediately, and the two Daggers couldn't get a single shot in before the R-Wyverns simply dipped below the skyline and passed them by.

"Two more enemy groups directly in front of you; they're not rising." Thunderhead warned.

"Copy." Bartlett rose above the buildings, did a lazy flip, and simply picked a different street to fly in. Inwardly, he was very, very happy that he wasn't responsible for footing the bill of repair as glass shattered behind him.

"Yellow 13, interceptors above you." Thunderhead reported next.

Yellow 13 paid the interceptors no attention and just kept on flying. Unlike Bartlett he was flying a bit higher in the sky, but it still didn't protect the city as he went supersonic towards the EFA's Spengler Class Carrier.

…

Within two minutes, the two of them cleared the city and its many defenders (some of them finding good vantage points to take pot shots at them from behind now) and had a straight run towards the enemy carrier in the middle of the bay.

_I think it's a bay rather than a gulf, but you get the idea. It's water surrounded by land._

Of course, their flight is far from effortless: beam rifle fire and missiles chased after them, and the path ahead of them is being progressively blockaded by more and more anti-aircraft fire.

"I'll lure some of their fire." Bartlett said as he pulled up into the sky, dragging some of the anti-aircraft fire with him.

"Thank you, captain." Yellow 13 responded as his aircraft hugged the water surface, all the while still racing towards the enemy carrier at breakneck speeds.

The enemy captain aboard the Spengler was not nearly as calm as Yellow 13 was. "What are you doing?! Shoot them down now!" He roared.

But it was meaningless: Yellow 13 disengaged the targeting system on one of the XAGMs before launching it towards the Spengler's hull. With pinpoint precision, the missile impacted the Spengler's bow right above the waterline, ripping a massive hole in its hull and causing the ship to take on water nose-first.

To add insult to injury, some of the beam rifle fire from the Daggers trying to intercept Yellow 13 struck the carrier as Yellow 13 zipped over the carrier's flight deck in his rapid ascent into the sky.

"Carrier hit, it's sinking." Thunderhead reported while Yellow 13 and Captain Bartlett rapidly exited the combat zone, slowly turning south while bleeding off speed. "Good hit, aces."

"Are they coming after us?" Bartlett asked. "I really don't want to tango right now."

"Doesn't look like it." Thunderhead replied after a few seconds. "Only a few Spearheads are in their air right now and they seem more worried about any subsequent attacks."

Yellow 13 breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Good…Thunderhead, we'll be taking a straight run south to attack and hold Morgenroete. Are you coming with us?"

"That's a negative, Yellow 13." While the two aces couldn't see it, the AWACS aircraft banked and turned south west, away from the two of them. "We've received intel that another operation is occurring to the military dock south west of here, and we're heading there to provide service."

"Copy that, Thunderhead." Yellow 13 responded. "Godspeed."

"Thank you…to you as well, aces."

…

…

"Heartbreak One."

Bartlett glanced at his wingman. "What's up?"

"Can we hold Morgenroete by ourselves?"

"All signs point to no." Bartlett laughed. "But then we're not trying to hold it by ourselves. The goal is to attack and provide enough of a distraction for any troops in Morgenroete to break free and add to the momentum…and then we'll keep the skies for them as they secure the facility."

Yellow 13 raised an eyebrow. "This is a pretty big gamble, Heartbreak One…we're relying on Orb's military folding against an invader on purpose."

"I know…but if we give the Feds time to entrench themselves then the fighting would be a lot worse." Bartlett said. "The sooner we break them free, the better."

…

…

The two fighters had cut a straight line through Orb, passing over all of its volcanoes, and had arrived at Morgenroete.

"Looks like we're not the first ones here." Bartlett observed, watching explosions and small blips dot his radar. "You ready, Yellow 13?"

"Yeah, let's do it." Yellow 13 nodded.

Both aircraft inverted and dove sharply down towards Morgenroete as the complex lit up with welcoming anti-aircraft fire.

[Second Operation: Assault on Orb Military Dock, Equatorial Union Team]

[Participants: Cipher (ZGMF-616 Gatekeeper), Antares (ASF-X Shinden II), Chopper (ASF-X Shinden II)]

Compared to Bartlett and Yellow 13, the team coming in from the European Union had a longer flight…and thus it took them a little longer to get to the battlefield. Of course, the slight change in combat objectives didn't help their timetables any.

Upon noticing that their original flight plan took them fairly close to the Orb military dock on the western coast of the main island, Cipher, acting as the flight lead, decided to alter their path of approach: instead of taking a path across the ocean and circle around Orb's mainland to hit Morgenroete, they would hug the small island chain to the mainland's northwest and approach the military dock before going onto their final target.

Having the new fighters (donated to them via the European Union from a mysterious sponsor) didn't hurt any.

_The Shinden looks like a fatter, stockier version of the Murasame from SEED Destiny. Its tail wings also move depending on its flight speed to achieve better performance, similar to the wings of the X-02._

The Shinden is equipped with eight missile hardpoints.

"Wow, this is way more advanced than the Tomcat I'm used to…hell, this is more advanced than the X-02 we're all used to." Chopper had commented when he first sat in the cockpit.

"Yeah. Isn't this a prototype? Why are they sending it to us?" Antares had asked.

_Because you two can keep it alive? _Cipher had thought but not said.

…

Regardless, the flight of three units approached the occupied military dock without too much fanfare.

"Looks like they have the place pretty locked down pretty tight." Chopper observed. "How are we gonna do this? I don't think the Orb military will respond if we don't make a big enough bang."

"The enemy defenses are focused around a pair of Cruisers." Cipher said, uploading data to the two fighters' computers. "Judging by the amount of radio traffic in the air right now, an air attack has already occurred on Orb's mainland, so odds are they'll be expecting us."

"And that makes me feel better about this situation how?" Chopper demanded.

"They'll see us coming, so we'll hit them directly on the nose and bloody it to hell and back…right?" Antares smirked.

"Wait, wait." Chopper was getting a sinking feeling in his stomach. Antares's lust for battle and Cipher's reputation as the Demon Lord did not suggest a slow and steady approach. "Tell me we're not doing what I think we're doing."

"Well…if we want to make our presence known, then the best way to do it is to destroy every enemy unit in the area." Cipher shrugged. "Easy peasy."

"We're going to attack a fortified enemy position when they know that we're coming." Chopper deadpanned.

"You got it." Cipher's response held a worrying lack of apprehension, as far as Chopper was concerned.

"No offense, but I wish I had a less suicidal lead." Chopper sighed. "Like, say, Blaze."

Cipher grinned. "Alright, all units, you're cleared to engage!"

…

The Federation army stationed at the dock was surprised to hear their air raid sirens go off…while all of their anti-air weapons were active and searching.

Naturally, all of the anti-air weapons lit up and covered the skies with bullets…before someone paying attention realized that the attackers were coming from in low altitude.

"How many of them are there?" One Dagger pilot asked. _Let's call him Pilot A._

"Radar picked up two aircraft, one mobile suit." His captain responded.

"Just three units? Why are we getting all worked up over just three units?" Pilot A laughed.

"Well, the north garrison lost their carrier to two attackers, so I wouldn't be too cocky right now." One of his other teammates (_Pilot B_) chided him. "If the other guys are right, then these are the same pilots that fought in JOSH-A."

Pilot A grimaced. "Oh shit, that's bad for us."

To accentuate his point, the Dagger belonging to his captain suffered a direct hit on the head and was immediately disabled.

"Where the hell did that come from?!" Pilot A used his boosters to evade (mostly just to avoid being a stationary target). All he managed to do, however, was to dodge straight into another shot fired at him.

…

"Alright, first group clear." Cipher picked out some more targets. "Find the nearest idiot and bag it; don't get shot down." He then dropped down from the sky and focused on all Federation anti-air hard points in the base. "I'll fly support."

"Thank you kindly." Chopper sighed and depressed the trigger, strafing a trio of EFA Heli crafts and sending them into the ground. "We'll leave the heavy lifting to you, then."

"Acknowledged." Cipher grinned, his Gatekeeper dancing on the ground with its powerful engines to avoid being shot to pieces by the Daggers coming his way. In response to the oncoming Daggers, he liberally sprayed his machineguns in the direction of their attacks…to no great effect.

When the pilots knew to use their shields the mobile suits were able to protect themselves against grievous harm…for a while, anyway.

Cipher had zero issues with readjusting his aim to hit the Dagger's exposed legs or head whenever necessary.

"Damn it…" An EFA pilot snarls as the Dagger next to him had its legs blown off. "Fan out! We'll overwhelm it with firepower!"

"How?!" His teammate demanded as Cipher's Gatekeeper blew past his Dagger at full speed. "He's not evening coming close to standing still!"

The first pilot was saved from having to answer when Cipher kicked his Dagger into the ground from behind and eliminated its power source with a clean shot to the back.

"Son of a-Barry! Go right!" The teammate pilot snapped as Cipher turned to go after him, followed up immediately by sailor-like cursing as Cipher brought him down.

…

"Wow, he's getting all the attention." Chopper remarked as an Anti-aircraft gun swiveled to target Cipher, who had gotten too close. Chopper picked off the anti-aircraft gun with a salvo of gunfire. "Guess I should expect as much from the Demon Lord himself."

"I still don't see how his flying has earned him that name." Antares said as he strafed some of the Heli crafts. "I expected more…bloodshed."

"What, this isn't enough for you?" Chopper demanded…then he looked forward. "Ah, crap." He banked to dodge an anti-aircraft gun. "Could use some help here."

"I expected as much from a 'Legendary Ace', but…" Antares dove down onto the aircraft gun and picked it off. "I don't see the level of performance that would make him a 'Demon'." Antares performed a sudden barrel roll to dodge a beam rifle shot in his direction.

"It might have something to do with him using a Mobile Suit instead of a Fighter though." Chopper laughed. "The skills needed to use both units are quite different."

"Antares, Chopper, cut the chatter." A new voice said a little bit slyly.

Chopper rolled his eyes. "Thunderhead!? Which rock did you crawl out of?"

Thunderhead couldn't help but smile; he missed the loud-mouth in the past few years of his life. "Stay focused, Wardog three. We have a war to win here."

Chopper, on the other hand, didn't have anything other than lukewarm feelings toward the (as far as he's concerned) mediocre AWACS operator. "Yeah, yeah…man. And here I thought I'd be away from your beautiful voice when I came over to this alternate _dimension._"

Thunderhead merely laughed; the years have really mellowed him out. "You'll never escape, Wardog. Never."

"Is there something going on between the two of you?" Antares demanded.

"Not funny, man." Chopper sighed. "So, Thunderhead, how does it look for us?"

"Currently? Could be better." Thunderhead replied. "I'm sending you combat data, stand by."

"Sheesh." Chopper shook his head as he reviewed the data quickly. "Looks like we're attracting a lot of attention from our neighbors."

A wave of blips on the radar converging onto the base accentuated his point…the base currently devoid of enemy units.

Chopper then did a double take. "Wait, wasn't this base occupied before?" He then looked up in alarm and banked to take a better look. "Holy shit, man."

Cipher exhaled a deep sigh of satisfaction. "Galm One to Thunderhead, I'm out of ammo…and I think I pushed this unit too far." His cockpit was bright red with alarms going off about everything.

Antares took a look at the Gatekeeper. "I can see that." Cipher's Gatekeeper was crackling with electricity, and the barrels of its guns spewed smoke.

"That's…kind of ridiculous." Chopper deadpanned. "Uh…wow." He breathed as he surveyed the base full of dead Daggers and VTOL Heli crafts…and the plumes of smoke everywhere. "Demon Lord indeed."

Thunderhead was comparatively less impressed, since Blaze was more than perfectly capable of doing the same as far as he was concerned. "This is Thunderhead broadcasting to all units of the Orb military." He declared. "The occupying force of the base has been destroyed."

"I don't think they'll get out here fast enough." Chopper muttered, as his radar warning alarm started beeping. "I really don't think they'll get out here fast enough. Dammit, Chopper, intercepting enemy aircraft!" He turned his Shinden towards the incoming EFA Spearheads and hit his afterburners.

"Antares, engaging." Antares copied Chopper. "Will you be ok, Cipher?"

"I uh…might be a bit tough." Cipher said hesitantly, moving his controls and receiving no response.

The first wave of EFA Spearheads met Chopper and Antares in combat (and immediately lost three of them in the opening engagement)…and then the rest of the flight was blown from the skies via anti-air fire from the ground.

"This is the First Orb Defense Battalion." A commander-sounding voice came over the radio as tanks and M1 Astrays appeared from previously hidden underground entrances. "We'd like to extend our thanks to the brave Aces who have come to assist our country…and it will be an honor to fight alongside you."

"Roger that." Chopper responded with a wide grin (while shearing off a Spearhead's wing with a burst of gunfire). "Let's get this party going!"

…

[Third Operation: Morgenroete Takeover Operation, Archangel Team]

[Participants: Kira Yamato (Aile Strike Gundam), Mu La Flaga (Launcher Skygrasper), Tolle Koenig (Sword Skygrasper), Blaze (F-7D Spearhead), Talisman (F-7D Spearhead), William Bishop (F-7D Spearhead)]

_The mechanic crew ran out of parts to maintain the Spearheads up to their Super Spearhead specifications, so they're considered to be normal units for this battle._

…

The Archangel's detachment deployed from the Archangel very early, so they could arrive and liberate the dock before the Archangel actually arrived within weapons range.

While they expected some level of resistance to organize before they arrived at Morgenroete (because Radar exists and all of the units have large cross sections) none of them expected a fleet to array itself before them even before anyone got within shooting range.

"I guess it was too good to be true." Mu La Flaga muttered. "How do you boys want to approach this?"

"Let's see…" Tolle's Skygrasper was customized to include better electronics (to help further his support role). "A lot of Cruisers, a lot of Frigates…no Carriers." He blinked in surprise. "Really? No carriers at all?"

"Then we'll break through them." Blaze shrugged. "If their carriers aren't here then they're sitting near Morgenroete, and those things are more dangerous."

"Copy that, lead." Bishop agreed. "W-Razgriz three, ready."

"Alright, let's do this." Blaze hit his afterburners and dove down towards the enemy fleet.

…

Up until the appearance of the Archangel team on their radars, the EFA fleet was engaged in lighthearted conversation about the bad orders they were given (the attackers were North of Orb, not West) and were thus pleasantly surprised when it turned out that were actually on point.

"Six units total…think they're coming to get us?" A ship operator wondered.

"Don't think so." His next-seat neighbor replied. "Morgenroete is right behind us, and that's a way bigger target."

"Enemy units are within interception range, commence firing." The fire control officer of the ship declares.

"Alert the carriers back at the docks." The ship captain ordered. "Have them send interceptors immediately."

"Yes sir!"

…

As predicted by the operators, the six unknown attackers blew past the blockade of ships without firing a single shot.

To the chagrin and embarrassment of the anti-aircraft crew, three of the attackers, all Spearheads, flew past the ships at a very low altitude and nearly capsized a ship or two by the virtue of flying by too close and too fast.

"Damn, they're good." One of the anti-air crew grumbled, watching the anti-air fire chase after the escaping attackers. "How did the missiles do?"

"No good, the damned mobile suit shot them all down." His neighbor spat. "Firing second salvo."

"Cease fire." The fire control officer countered. "We are to hold positions against the enemy warship."

"They have a warship?" The first crewman wondered, and he and his next-seat neighbor traded confused glances, before blinking in surprise as the threat alarm sounded again.

"Incoming flight of fighters...looks like this group is actually headed straight for us." The radar operator said. "We're going to be in for a fight this time."

…

While the bad guys were confused about the logistics of the good guys (and getting ready to be attacked again) the good guys themselves were flying over the stretch of water between them and the coastline.

Kira peered at the Morgenroete facility, using his Gundam's cameras to get a better look on things. "Hey guys, I don't think the facility is being guarded." He said.

"They're probably in hiding." Blaze responded. "We're flying pretty low right now, after all."

"Well, sure, but…" Kira thought back to the rapid attack of Orb. "It feels like there aren't enough Fed units around for some reason."

As if prompted, blips appeared on his radar.

"Kira?" Talisman sighed.

"Hey, I had nothing to do with it!" Kira complained.

"Sure you didn't." Blaze grinned. "All right, change of plans! We're cutting straight across Morgenroete to reach the enemy carriers in the dock area." The three Spearheads banked and turned as one to meet the opposing Spearheads. "Razgriz will fly top cover, Skygraspers will go anti-ship, and the Strike will provide anti-ground support, got it?"

"Razgriz two copies." Talisman scanned the ground for any anti-air artillery, and is surprised to not find any.

"Razgriz three, roger." Bishop focused himself on the enemy planes.

"Roger that, Blaze." Mu La Flaga answered for the other two kids. "Let's start this dance."

…

The air battle waged between the Razgriz and the EFA fighters didn't last for too long. Although the Federation side had the numbers, they did not have the skill or coordination to last against the Aces…at all, really.

The Skygraspers, on the other hand…

"Hey Kira, we found your hidden EFA buddies!" Tolle gritted his teeth as he turned off from his attack route with a fairly sharp move (for him), "they were hiding in the bay."

The Daggers, previously hidden in the water, now 'stood' in the water with the top half of their body exposed and firing their head Vulcans and beam rifles.

"Why did they do that?" Kira demanded, firing at one of the Daggers. "Oh." He frowned a moment later as the Dagger let itself sink into the bay, resulting in a sizable splash as the beam from his rifle hit the water and nothing else. "Well, that sucks." He summarized.

"No kidding. Damn, I can't get close." Mu banked and rose after watching the Daggers splash one of his missiles. "I need an opening to use the beam guns…"

Kira, in response, fired his beam rifle towards the carrier.

One of the Daggers rose from the water to block it with its shield…before crashing into the water again.

"These guys are surprisingly persistent." Kira muttered, putting a little more distance between them and the carrier.

"Razgriz one to Skygraspers, finish it off quick." Blaze warned him. "If they're dug in hard it means they're trying to buy time. Don't let them."

"Even if you say that…" Tolle pulls out of his attack run with no result. "Shit, I can't get a good angle on it."

"It's dead angles everywhere, sheesh." Mu broke off from his attack run directly above the carrier. "Kira, you want in on this? Beats shooting at fish all day!"

"Just shoot it with the AGNI and get it over with!" Kira fired another shot only to have it foiled again.

Tolle's radar showed more threats. "We took too long." He snarled. "Enemy units coming in from all around us! They're real damn close too!"

"What the-" Blaze had to roll hard to avoid a salvo of missiles aimed at his Spearhead's underbelly. "Where the hell did you come from?!" He demanded of the nearly a hundred Daggers surrounding the airspace.

"Something odd just happened here." Talisman muttered (a tad unnecessarily). "How did we miss A HUNDRED Daggers moving right below us?"

…

"Sir, it looks like the Mirage Colloid Screen was effective." An aide reported to Murata Azrael, aboard a ship safely away from Orb. "The enemy units are confused."

Murata's satisfied smirk told everyone aboard the ship what he thought of this situation.

…

"Alright, whoever they put behind those controls is a lot better than the average pilot." Kira grumbles as the fifth Dagger goes down from his beam rifle. "I can't get a good window of attack…often."

The Strike's evasive maneuver was accompanied by an almost nonstop barrage of beam rifle fire tagging his every move.

"Yeah…their targeting's far sharper than it was before." Talisman agreed, having had no openings so far to launch an attack on any EFA assets on the ground yet. "At this point I don't think they're interested in protecting the carriers at all."

"Agreed…did they throw away two ships just as diversions?!" Bishop muttered angrily.

As a matter of fact…the EFA did not throw away two ships.

The two ships were not there at all. Much as how the Mirage colloid system can be used to visually hide targets from detection, it can also be used (with great difficulty) to create dummy units to act as decoys.

In this case, two sets of mirage colloid generators were married to large, wooden boxes painted to be visually identical to the carriers they represent (using 3d imagining data from training simulators). The effect is that, at a distance (and to the secondary sensors) they looked *enough* like the real carriers that the attackers would be confused…so long as they did not get close. The Daggers in the water, acting as deterrents and defenders, made sure that nobody went close enough for a thorough look.

The fact that only the Skygraspers participated in attack runs certainly helped maintain their disguise.

"That can't possibly be the case." Blaze snapped. "Carriers are expensive! They're not just gonna toss those things out like candy!"

"They did send a hundred Daggers to kill us." Talisman replied. "I think that's a good sign that they care about their carriers."

"More than that, there are Spearheads coming for us." Tolle, having pulled up high to avoid being shot to death, added. "There are…a lot of them." He gulped. "Wow there are a lot of them. I think I see more units than the Feds deployed at JOSH-A."

"Well, ain't that a laugh." Blaze growled. "Razgriz, pull up and engage enemy fighters! Strike, the ground is all yours!"

The first engagement between the friendly and the enemy Spearheads didn't go over so well.

"Talisman, your wing." Bishop reported upon seeing Talisman's Spearhead trail smoke from one of the wings.

"I see it. Not a problem." Talisman replies curtly, barrel rolling over an oncoming Spearhead to shoot the one behind it with his guns, but not scoring a hit. "These guys are way better too. Is there an elite Fed unit we missed?"

"Wasn't it supposed to be us?" Blaze laughed even as his aircraft shuddered from a hit to its fuselage. "It's about damn time we had someone good to fly against."

To drive the point home, his Spearhead ducked neatly between two Spearhead launching a united attack on him and shot them both down.

Or, at least, so he thought. "Oh, this is interesting." Blaze remarked as he inverted and dove to avoid more fire aimed at him. "Razgriz to all units, the newcomers are not manned. Repeat, they are unmanned."

"What?!" Kira looked down to the Daggers firing nonstop at him. "Then are these guys unmanned as well?"

"It's a high possibility." Bishop replied, barrel rolling behind an EFA Spearhead and picking it off with gunfire. "But…"

"Yeah." Kira agreed. "As far as I know," and as an ex-engineering student he knew a lot, "remote control technology has never been a major point of interest for either the Feds or ZAFT."

"So are these things being controlled remotely?" Tolle asked, trying his level best to avoid being shot down. "Also, could use some help here!"

"I'm on you." Mu La Flaga responded, chasing down the Spearhead behind Tolle.

"I don't think these are controlled remotely…thanks for that." Tolle breathed. "My sensors aren't showing any increases in communications…so unless they're using a band we're not familiar with, these guys are all using onboard AIs."

"Real damn advanced on-board AIs." Blaze grumbled, strafing another Spearhead as it nearly ran into him. "These things aren't dying as fast as they should."

The Spearhead he strafed wavered slightly in the air before it made an absurdly tight turn and followed after Blaze.

"They probably have reinforced instruments…what with not having a crew and all." Talisman replied, his aircraft shaking again. "Ok, you?" He said to one of the Spearheads dancing on his tail. "That was not ok. Apologize." He decelerated and turned, forcing the other aircraft to fly in front of his guns just long enough to tear its tail off.

"I think Talisman's losing it." Bishop joked, executing a Pugachev's Cobra (where his aircraft looks like it slides forward on its tail in the air) to throw off two chasers. "The stress might be getting to him."

"I think all of you are losing it." Tolle said disbelievingly. "Where's the sense of panic!?"

"Hey! It looks like you guys could use a little help!" A new voice suddenly came onto the scene. "Mind if I join in?"

"Help yourself, Heartbreak One." Blaze replied as he shredded a Spearhead on Talisman's tail. "There's plenty of food on this table."

"Heh, good to know." Captain Bartlett grinned. "Heartbreak One engaging!"

"Yellow 13, engaging."

The pair of XS-02s, coming in fresh from the north of Orb, jumped into the fray.

…

…

Murata Azrael held his hand out even before his aide had a chance to speak.

"Sir, we have a report concerning the newly deployed autonomous controlled combat units." The aide said, handing over his report.

Azrael scanned it quickly. "So despite them being superior units they're still losing." He summarized.

"Y-yes sir." The aide gulped.

"Pah…amazing." Azrael sighed. "Oh well, whatever. How does it look in space?"

"Sir. ZAFT has sent several detachments into the Southern America Territories…high command is requesting that we back off for the time being."

"What?" Azrael rolled his eyes. "Sheesh. They haven't started on their deployment of the unmanned units, have they? The damned idiots."

Apart from Murata's faction within the Federation (which is formidable, all things considered) no other group within the EFA uses automated combat units yet.

He flipped the last page of the document, and his eyebrow shot up in surprise.

…

…

[The battle over Morgenroete rages on]

…

…

"God dammit, this is endless." Bartlett growls as his aircraft shakes from another hit to the fuselage. "I could use some help here."

"Warwolf." Bishop responds out of habit, driving away the AI-Controlled Spearhead on Bartlett's tail but unable to shoot it down.

"Thirty percent of enemy air force down." Yellow 13 responded. "This is slow going."

The EFA Spearheads, armed with a fast-adapting and fast-learning AI, initially suffered heavy losses against the Aces. However, as the battle continued the AIs progressively learned more and more of their enemies' flight patterns, and the losses subsided.

The same could not be said of the AI-controlled Daggers, though. Due to the complexity behind mobile suit controls the AIs could not adapt to them as quickly and as such they relied on using hefty firepower to buy time.

Unfortunately 'buying time' is exceptionally hard against Kira Yamato's impeccable aiming.

"Alright, that's almost all of them." Kira sighs, holstering his beam rifle to avoid using the last drops of his energy. "Mu, Tolle, how are you guys holding up?"

"I want to land. Can I land?" Tolle replied in despair. "Because this sucks!"

Tolle suddenly brakes in his Skygrasper, and the Spearhead chasing after him slams into the back of the Sword Strike pack's blade.

"You'll break the sword that way, Tolle!" Mu chided as he fired one more round from the AGNI cannon into the ground, cutting apart the pavement and destroying a Dagger. "It's a good thing the Daggers are rooted to the spot!"

"They're improving fast." Talisman observed. "They must have a very sophisticated learning AI."

"Did you have something like that, Talisman?" Blaze asked on a private channel.

"No…the closest thing I know of is Estovakia's Drone technology." Talisman crisscrossed in the sky with Blaze, causing their chasers to nearly collide with each other. "But not only are they less advanced than what we're seeing, they also need a local or remote controller."

"And the N-Jammers in the ground of this dustball prevent reliable long range communications…though like Kira said, they don't have such advanced tech to begin with." Talisman added.

"Well, shit." Blaze growled, his aircraft now trailing smoke from the various small hits it's taken. "Isn't that just…the hell is going on?"

All of the surviving Spearheads and Daggers belonging to the EFA suddenly turned as one, heading west off of the battlefield.

Kira snapped out of his confusion first. "No! Don't let any one of them escape!"

Yellow 13 caught on next. "Damn! If they're allowed to return with the data…"

"Roger!" Bishop spoke for all of them, and the Aces gave chase to the EFA Spearheads.

While retreating, the EFA Spearheads did not evade or fire back. Instead, they just ran at full afterburners as hard as they could. That proved enough against the worn-down Aces, and over half of the Spearheads escaped from Morgenroete airspace.

None of the Daggers got away though, if only because Blaze (and Bartlett) took out the ones Kira couldn't reach out of frustration.

…

The battle to liberate Orb quickly escalated following the loss of the two key Orb military installations, and before the end of the day all EFA forces were driven off of Orb soil.

"So they say." Bartlett sighed and turned off the news heralding the EFA's quick retreat. "But as far as I'm concerned, the Feds weren't driven out; they just left."

"Certainly, it wasn't as if the Feds were on the back foot by any means. Even though we took over Morgenroete and the Military dock on the mainland, they still had control over the vast majority of Orb's cities." Talisman agreed.

"That 'control' of theirs was bull." Mu laughed. "They had a skeleton force in each city and they knew it. If Orb woke up—and it did—then the Feds would have no choice but to pull back…and they did."

"All thanks to that red and white unit." Tolle grinned. "Whoever that guy was he sank all the Feddy transport ships before they got here."

Yellow 13 coughed to get everyone's attention, gathered as they were in a Morgenroete hangar. "There is still the matter of Stonehenge. What do we do about it?"

The gathering went silent.

"Well, what do we know about it?" Bartlett finally asked.

"Besides the fact that it's a giant ring of 'keep-away'?" Tolle muttered.

"It's protected by at least two different layers of burst missiles." Talisman summarized. "One designed to rain shrapnel on all targets below it, and one designed to destroy everything within the contact range."

"Mix that with Stonehenge's innate ability to blow everything at a high altitude to pieces and we have a real tough first wall on our hands." Blaze grumbled.

"First wall?" Bishop frowned at him.

Blaze made a noncommittal shrug. "Way I see it, if they're going to protect that Stonehenge circle with extra security, then they're going to go overboard, I mean…All of us are here." He indicated to all of the Strangereal Aces.

"That's true…they even had the Excalibur laser system." Bartlett acknowledged. "Wouldn't surprise me to see some more cards up their sleeve."

"Excalibur? Sounds pretentious." Tolle grinned.

Bartlett bopped the teenager on the head. "Tell me about it."

"Excuse me, sirs." A Morgenroete staff member stuttered, finally succeeding in getting the Ace's attention after several minutes. "There's a call for you."

"You…all of us?" Bartlett asked.

"Uh…he asked specifically for a 'Heartbreak One', Sir."

…

…

The aide led the group into a conference room. Although Bartlett was the only one called nobody else was going to let this interesting (and very sketchy) situation pass by.

"Alright, I'm here, what do you want?" Bartlett asked as soon as the large screen in front of him came alive. He grimaced as the image of the screen simply showed the two words VOICE ONLY.

His grimace changed into surprise when he heard the voice. "Hey, Captain. I didn't think you would try something as insane as attacking an occupying force by yourselves."

"Who is that?" Tolle whispered to Blaze, who seemed to recognize the voice.

Blaze simply shook his head slightly.

"I wasn't about to just kick back and relax; where are you right now?" Bartlett asked.

"I'm working in new Usea." The voice replied. "We're monitoring the situation in Orb right now…well, Orb as well as Stonehenge."

"Interesting." Bartlett smiled slightly.

"Yeah." The voice agreed. "Well, first off, the EFA have pulled back entirely from Orb…and they've vanished."

"Vanished?" Bartlett scowled. "How the hell could a fleet just vanish?"

"You got me." The mystery voice's shrug was audible. "But whatever the reason, the assault fleet responsible for attacking and invading Orb is nowhere to be found. That being said…the Feds have assembled a second fleet, and it's probably headed to Orb again, given their current movement patterns."

"I think the Feds have lost their marbles." Kira muttered.

Bartlett rubbed his temples. "So…their first invasion almost succeeded, so they decided to give it all up and try again? That seems like horrible tactics to me."

"We thought the same thing." The voice laughed. "But there seems to be more than that."

Bartlett snapped his finger. "Does it have anything to do with computer controlled weapons?"

A pause.

"So they've deployed them already." The voice finally sighed. "Damn, and here we thought we had more time."

_We? _Everyone thought.

"Our operatives discovered traces of advanced technology in some of the Federation Production Facilities." The voice continued. "While we don't have any concrete evidence, it is assumed that they somehow obtained it from Belkan sources."

…

Meanwhile, Cipher's team, responsible for clearing and holding the Military dock on the Orb mainland were also receiving a similar briefing, targeted explicitly at Antares instead.

"I take it you don't believe in Belka's involvement in this issue." Antares said cautiously after mulling over the revelation for a few seconds.

"Gründer mechanics have bemoaned the loss of their missile technology to a fundamental difference in physics." His mysterious voice, much colder and more proud than the one that addressed Bartlett, replied. "Given their record of pride and technological progress, I do not believe that Gründer was responsible for the sudden increase in the construction capabilities of its enemy."

"If that's the case, then who's responsible for it?" Antares asked.

"If we knew, we wouldn't be in this situation." The voice replied. "However, we have found two names to be of interest."

Antares wasn't an overly patient man. "And they are…?"

"Neucom and Wernher Noah."

.

.

.

"Never heard of them." Bartlett shrugged. "What are they?"

"We've never heard of them either." His mysterious voice replied. "Our best guess is that both are weapons manufacturers of some kind. If they really are responsible for the sudden increase in technological gains of the Federation, then it's fair to assume that they both have vast amounts of manpower and resources at their disposal."

…

The back-and-forth discussion between the groups went on for some time and eventually all parties agreed that, while the talk of "who's orchestrating the war" is interesting, the defense of Orb comes first.

"Still can't believe that the EFA just gave up on this place." Mu La Flaga sighed. "They played us good."

"Whoever thought that sacrificing so many units to take over a sovereign country built on superior technology but only for a day is a goddamn idiot. Thankfully, that idiot isn't on our side." Bartlett shook his head. "Though it's more involved than that, I guess…"

"I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the Feds will send a huge wave of computer controlled fighters at us the next time they come at us." Blaze said, earning a glare from Talisman. "I just jinxed us, didn't I…?" Blaze sighed.

…

At the other Orb Military Dock, Cipher looked up in surprise as a red and white GuAIZ landed on the nearest airstrip, missing a wing.

As Cipher watched one of the arms of the GuAIZ detached from its socket and dropped to the ground while the pilot walked towards him.

"Don't make them like they used to, do they, Galm One?" The pilot grinned, snapping off a salute. "Hey buddy."

Cipher grinned and stood up. "I'm still alive, Galm Two. Good to see you too. I take it you've been busy?"

"I can do a lot with ammo and free targeting." Pixy laughed. "But it looks like this is the end of the road for that boy." He sighs, looking at the GuAIZ wistfully. "Orb doesn't have the parts to maintain it without a serious overhaul."

"Sounds like the same problem I have." Cipher said, gesturing to the open hangar door revealing his Gatekeeper behind him. "But then, no aircraft lasts without proper maintenance."

"Yeah." Pixy breathed. "So, buddy, what do you plan to do when the Feds come back?"

…

Mobius One was not too happy with his new aircraft, but prototypes are prototypes for a reason.

In his case, the CFA-144 Dracula had a faulty engine connection that grounded it for the entirety of the day, and by the time the problem was fixed (a surprisingly difficult feat considering how one of the exhausts burst into flames) the battle was already over.

…

…

[ZAFT Side, PLANT]

…

…

"So he summons us, and then refuses to meet us due to 'time constraints.'" Yzak grumbles. "Ok, message received, we're not important. Sheesh! Your dad has issues."

The two of them were shunted off to a side room in the massive building Patrick Zala works in, receiving their 'top secret orders' via an envelope rather than by person.

"He's…well, I imagine that he's busier than ever nowadays." Athrun pops the envelope open. "What with being the King of ZAFT and all."

Patrick Zala has accrued a disturbing amount of power recently, earning him the questionable nickname.

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock." Yzak scowls harder than ever. "Something interesting?" He asks once he sees Athrun freeze.

"Well." Athrun tosses Yzak the envelope. "Someone screwed up big time."

Yzak reads with progressively more anger. "The hel-how does-WHAT?!"

Their orders were as thus: Find and recover the prototype mobile suits stolen by terrorists.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes:

Well this took way longer than I expected. Ended up rewriting it twice, not much improvement I think.

Also, whoever linked this fanfic to that one Youtube video…you're awesome and I'm sorry.

And whoever came to this fanfic due to said link…you're all awesome and I'm really sorry.

Well, sorry not sorry. You know how it is. Hehehe~


	22. Stage 19 - Liberation

{ === + === }

.

[ZAFT Shuttle]

.

Yzak rubs his temples. He's been doing that a lot recently. "Does his highness your daddy not want us to find those prototypes or something?" He demands of Athrun.

Athrun, a little bit past the point of caring, shrugs noncommittally in reply.

"Everywhere we've gone it's 'restricted access' this or 'confidential' that." Dearka agrees. "We've been at this for two days and we haven't gotten anywhere."

"That just means whoever stole them have pretty big ranks on their shoulders." Athrun says. "Considering how screwed up things have gotten, it won't surprise me at all of there are at least some ZAFT officers who are thinking of defecting to Usea."

Yzak, taking a break from massaging his poor temples, sighs. "That's…just great." He sits back tiredly. "The mightly Coordinators, defecting and bowing to Naturals. Where do we go from here, Mister Leader?"

Athrun, still past the point of caring, shoots a nonchalant look at Dearka.

Dearka sighs heavily and pulls out a small checklist from his pocket.

…

…

[Orb]

…

…

With the Federation fleet sitting at Orb's border, Orb has done nothing for the past few days except to reinforce their defenses.

Or rather, reinforce their defenses as best as they are able with constant Federation probing attacks on the coastline. The Feds aren't just sitting with a blockading naval force for show.

As such, the Aces of Strangereal have volunteered to assist the Orb's military in the defense of its homeland. It would work better if Orb's military was not made up almost entirely of tanks and Astrays (aka things that can't fly for a long period of time).

For now though, Blaze and Chopper were busy chasing down a pair of AI-controlled Spearheads zipping through the skylines of an Orb metropolis.

"Why are we leaving them alive again? They're unmanned." Chopper asks, banking right to keep the Spearhead in front of him square in his sights."

"Like I said, because the intel folk want to figure out what the Feds are trying to find out." Blaze answers.

"Really? Man." Chopper sighs. "You'd think the Feds would've found whatever they needed after taking over Orb."

Blaze laughs. "We only gave them a day, small wonder they couldn't find anything."

A voice comes over their radios after a few more seconds of high speed, window breaking chasing. "Blaze, Chopper, you are both cleared to fire."

"About time." Chopper wanted to know why they left the Spearheads alive until now, but figured it would make more sense to ask when they have their feet on the ground. "Chopper, fox two." He launched a missile.

"Blaze, fox two." Blaze did the same.

The two AI Spearheads pull up in unison to avoid the missiles, and both immediately receive a stream of bullets into their fuselage, courtesy of the two chasing fighters.

"Targets confirmed destroyed." Chopper said as the two burning dead AI Spearheads fell to the earth. "Got any more for us?"

"Roger that; there's another flight of Spearheads southwest." The Orb operator responded. "Hanabi team is chasing them north."

"Understood." Blaze hit full afterburners. "We'll intercept the enemy fighters before they get too far from the coastline."

"If our buddies on the ground don't shoot them down first, you mean." Chopper adds with a grin.

…

A few minutes of flying later, the two of them saw the Spearheads running for the coastline…and the Federation blockading fleet far in the distance.

"Why don't we just sink the damn fleet already?" Chopper asks (again).

"Too many of them, too few of us." Blaze replies curtly. "Now look alive, these guys actually want to dance."

The AI Spearheads had turned to fly directly towards their would-be interceptors.

"That's a first. Chopper, engaging."

The two teams of fighters zipped past each other in a near head-on collision, guns blazing the entire time. The two teams of fighters separated from each other with one Spearhead on fire and falling.

"Damn, he got my wing." Chopper said, ignoring the warning beeps in his cockpit. "I got him good though."

The Spearhead Chopper engaged was relatively ok: damaged, but otherwise still flying.

"Not enough to kill it." Blaze smirks as he pulls a high-G turn, putting himself on the tails of the lone surviving enemy aircraft. "Fox three."

The one remaining Spearhead, damaged by Chopper's pass and unable to evade, took the missile in its engines and exploded.

"Damn." Chopper sighs. "Oh well. We can go home now, right?"

"Yeah." Blaze looks down to check his energy levels. "Wardog leader to control, we're return to base."

"Roger that, Wardog leader, good job out there."

…

[Morgenroete]

…

"Welcome back. How was your trip?" Bartlett said as he tossed a can to Blaze.

Blaze opens it and plops down on the nearest couch. "Sixteen engagements of two-fighter flights. What the hell are the Feds thinking? What does this accomplish?"

"What? I don't get a drink?" Chopper asks indignantly.

Bartlett tosses him one. "We think it's because they're trying to gather more combat data for their computers."

"By losing all the fighters they send? Yeah, that makes sense." Chopper chugs his drink in one go. "Ah…man, this hits the spot."

"They could be scouting for something." Blaze muses. "Though it's anybody's guess as to what they're looking for."

Bartlett thought for a moment. "Orb has two things the Feds could possibly want…advanced Mobile Suit technology, and their Mass Driver."

"The Feds can already produce their own mobile suits…and at an extremely fast pace too." Chopper says. "Unless they're trying to go for quality, I can't see them invading Orb just for…uh, here." He points to the floor.

Chopper has a little trouble pronouncing the facility's name.

"Going by the design behind their Daggers…" Blaze says. "The Feds care a lot more about fielding the numbers than individual performance."

"Those units were intended to be piloted by people, right?" Chopper asks, getting some affirmation in reply. "Man, their armor looks weaker than paper. I'm real glad I'm not using one of those."

"Their armor is stronger than the ones on our fighters." Bartlett reminded him. "It only looks weak compared to Kira's Strike."

Chopper yawns. "Oh, purple eyes? He's something special, I take it? His unit looks weird, too."

"The Strike Gundam is the base machine that the Federation Daggers derive from." Kira says. "So…it does look a little weird, I suppose."

"Welcome back, kid." Bartlett greets Kira via raising his drink. "How was practice?"

"Tough. The Astray pilots are all good shots." Kira sighs. "I wish the Feds would hurry up and do something. I'm tired of waiting around."

"You said it." Chopper nods. "Let them show up, gather their numbers, we can sink them and all go home happy!"

Blaze and Bartlett shared a glance…and a similar thought.

_If the Feds have nothing to gain by hitting Orb, then what are they doing here?_

…

…

[Space]

…

…

"In the end, we find ourselves out here after all." Dearka sighs. "We're ZAFT Aces now, right? Why are they giving us the shitty jobs?"

The three of them (Athrun in the Aegis, Dearka in the Buster, Yzak in a GuAIZ) were sifting through the debris belt around Earth per several leads into the belt. If their information was any more solid then they wouldn't be doing this…but they are.

"I'm having fun on this goose chase." Yzak says, his voice suggesting that he was anything but having fun. "You guys having fun?"

"Yeah, just having a blast." Athrun grumbles. "Just what I wanted to do for the next week and a half."

"Can we stay a little focused?" Dearka pleads. "I mean, there're supposed to be enemy suits here."

Yzak is not convinced. "Enemy suits from where? Artemis is on the other side of the planet, Copernicus is under siege, the Junk Guild has agreed to stay out of our way, what could _possibly _be out here?"

Predictably, their threat warnings went off.

"Yzak." Athrun sighs.

"I had nothing to do with it." Yzak replies quickly.

"Sure you didn't." Athrun grumbles. "Do we have a visual?" He asks Dearka.

"I see them…" Dearka peers through his sniper scope. "They're probably modified GINNs, by the looks of things. I don't recognize the markings though."

"Deserters, huh?" Yzak grins savagely. "Perfect." He accelerates to meet his enemies.

"Don't fire just yet, Yzak." Athrun reminds him then switches to an open channel. "This is the ZAFT special investigations force, callsign Sable One. Unknown units, state your intentions."

No response.

"Did you really expect it to work?" Dearka asks Athrun wearily.

"It was worth trying." Athrun shrugs. "Alright, we're cleared to fire, but don't kill them."

"Ok." Dearka targets the nearest GINN of the four enemies and opens fire. His target deftly uses the debris and evades. "Alright, so we're not dealing with idiots." He mutters.

"As good as they think they are…" Yzak trades fire with another GINN, "They're not a match for us!" One of his shots connects with the enemy's arm, roasting it and causing the GINN's pilot to purge it in a hurry.

Athrun jinks right to avoid being shot from behind. "They have a good sense of tactics though." He extends out a beam saber in the Aegis's foot and catches the GINN trying to backstab him right in the liver (if Mobile Suits had livers). "But not a good sense of teamwork." Athrun says lightly as he shot the GINN in front of him in the face.

"Got him." Dearka celebrates as he shot the GINN he's facing into a large piece of debris. "Are we gonna interrogate them right here, or…?"

"That won't be necessary." Another voice came over the frequency. "It'll be easier to talk this over on our ship."

The three ZAFT boys look around in alarm as their threat alarms go off…but they don't see anything.

"So how about it?" A GuAIZ with orange marking appear from behind a cloud of debris. "It'll be a lot easier than fighting, I'm sure." Its pilot, one Andrew Waltfield, grins.

…

Yzak's first expression upon seeing the ship they're being led to. "Why is it pink?"

"It's mean to be a ship for peace." Waltfield replies.

"Ok, but why is it _pink_?" Dearka demands. "Why is someone like you in something like _that?_"

"Best not to think too heavily on it." Waltfield laughs.

The four of them dock with the Eternal, Waltfield's (temporary) battleship.

The FFMH-Y101 Eternal, like its non-aces configuration, is entirely pink. Unlike its non-aces configuration, however, this Eternal lacks the set of triple white wing-like appendages mounted on both sides of the craft, and most importantly, it lacks the two METEOR units that give the ship increased combat power, relegating it to its single heavy beam cannon and assortment of CIWS and missile launchers for firepower.

It is in this ship that the stolen prototypes are housed.

…

…

"So…" Dearka says slowly, as he observes the now one-armed Waltfield slowly. "Uh, sir…"

"Nevermind the formalities." Waltfield waves it away. "We're renegades now." He motions for the three boys to sit down in the captain's office.

Yzak instinctively went for a gun, but realized he didn't pack one. "Renegades? Why is the Tiger of the Desert a Renegade?" He asks instead.

"Depends on how much you wish to know, I suppose." Waltfield smirks. "For starters, what brings you boys out here?"

"The Prototype mobile suits that you stole from us." Yzak snaps. "That much should be obvious."

"No, it wasn't obvious." Waltfield grimaces. "Last time we met up with a group of ZAFT suits they tried to kill us."

"No shit, if you're going AWOL it's hard to believe that they'd just leave you alone." Dearka mutters.

Waltfield chuckles. "You got your ordering wrong, kid…well, that isn't much of an issue." He takes a sip of his coffee. "So…for you kids in the front lines. Tell me, what does this war feel like to you?"

"The war…what does that have to do with anything?" Yzak demands.

"It feels like it's strayed from its original goals…not that original goals were too clear to begin with." Athrun says slowly.

"Originally, it was a war of vengeance." Waltfield nods. "Vengeance for the deceased…not that I needed to remind you. It's something else now." He passes a video recording to the three ZAFT boys. "Take a look."

The three of them oblige.

"Isn't this the Fleet attacking Copernicus?" Yzak says dismissively. "I don't see how-oh, oh woah."

The video showed the attacking fleet being engulfed by multiple flashes of light. When the light dissipated, there was nothing but scrap metal left of the ZAFT warships.

"It's the same thing they used to wipe out Panama, isn't it?" Dearka looks to Waltfield, who nods.

"They call it 'Trinity', after the good old days of prototype nuclear weaponry, I suspect." Waltfield says. "Based on analysis, the weapons are not nuclear based…but we don't know what they're made of, other than the fact that they hit impressively hard. No conventional ordnance nowadays can pack that much bang in a cruise missile form."

Athrun frowns. "So the war is escalating, that sucks…but it's not that unusual. This war's been escalating since day one."

"That it is." Waltfield nods. "The problem is…someone just pushed the boulder off of the slippery slope."

Dearka looks confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means…well, it means that we find the current rate of escalation to be alarmingly fast." Waltfield pulls up a set of documents and graphs on the computer on his table. "Patrick's suddenly gathering a lot of political power, the formation of a new country out of nowhere, none of this makes any sense to us."

"It's not like the Feds shooting themselves in the foot has anything to do with it." Dearka mutters.

Waltfield caught the sarcasm. He stands up. "Normally I'd consider this to be acceptable, if stupid. However, Patrick seized control of the entirety of the ZAFT military in a matter of days after the Trinity was unveiled…incidentally, nobody on PLANT knows about this." He taps the video. "You can guess why."

"It'll be bad for morale, yeah." Yzak mutters, and then clears his throat. "But none of this explains why you've betrayed the ZAFT military."

"Really?" Waltfield scratches his chin. "I thought it was obvious; I don't feel like dying for a ZAFT that has lost its purpose."

"What is ZAFT trying to accomplish by taking over Copernicus?" Dearka, who's been struggling with this problem for a while, finally asks. "I mean, we know _now_ that they house these goddamn super missiles and they're extremely dangerous, but what was the initial drive for attacking the city?"

Waltfield has a slight smile on his face. "You got me on that one. PLANT had no reason to attack Copernicus, which is a neutral city, unless they had a damn good reason."

"Such as killing the Federation high command." Athrun suddenly said. "Wait, wait. But this means…"

Waltfield nods grimly. "Exactly. Whoever is pulling the strings behind this war has been doing it for a long, long time…which comes back to the reason why we went renegade. It's simply too difficult to investigate on this…shadow, behind the powers while being inside one such power."

"The three of you have a choice right now." Waltfield stares at the ZAFT boys. "You can either go home and pretend like you never saw us…or you can come with us."

"There's no middle ground?" Yzak felt a shiver run up his spine. His pride was telling him to drop the traitor to the nation right here, right now…but his instincts were telling him that the Tiger of the Desert will savage him if he tried.

"Our position is precarious enough as it is." Waltfield said as an apology.

"So what would our job be if we were to be Renegades?" Athrun asks slowly.

"Well…objective number one is to free Orb. We need to get the Princess out of Usea's grasp before they get her for good."

Yzak frowns at that one. "Usea's the bad guy?"

"Call it a hunch." Waltfield shrugs. "It's not that I find Usea detestable…hell, their treatment of Coordinators and Naturals alike have been very evenhanded, even commendable. That being said, there's something off about them that worries me, so it's better safe than sorry."

"Who's the princess again?" Dearka wonders.

"Lacus." Athrun says automatically.

"Ah." Dearka sighs then shrugs. "Sounds like your type of job, Athrun."

"Isn't Orb under Federation siege right now?" Yzak asks. "Getting in and out would be very, very hard."

"They have the Prototypes." Dearka points out. "If their specs are anything like the rumors then they should be pretty damn good."

"Oh, they're good alright." Waltfield nods. "But I can't go to Earth right now, for obvious reasons…and nobody else that came with us is good enough to handle them."

Yzak began to laugh. "What a stupid situation. The Traitor to ZAFT needs us heroes to bail out an ex-princess of PLANT so we can find out what's wrong with it."

"Hey, those are the cards on the table." Waltfield pats Yzak's head (earning a glare in response). "Take it or leave it."

…

…

[Usea]

…

…

The invasion and subsequent liberation of Orb was an unknown to the populace of Usea. The average citizen knew that something was happening (and their knowledge was directly proportional to their d distance to Orb) but they lacked concrete proof.

In the past few days, that has been changing. Slowly, videos concerning the battles over Orb's skies began to surface across the world, and soon enough the number one talking point among the Usean citizenry and military alike was the sheer audacity (and utter stupidity) of the plan…and the exemplary performance of the Aces.

…

…

[Stonehenge]

…

…

Stonehenge, the powerful Usean anti-air defensive artillery system, used to be under the control of the grey men.

As the above sentence implies, it has since changed hands.

Murata Azrael's ship, a small, nondescript (but certainly retrofitted) fishing boat floated into a hidden dock within the Stonehenge installation's base.

"Yo, my fellow gentlemen." Murata greets the men staffing the Stonehenge's primary control room. He then wrinkles his nose at the smell of blood and bleach mixed together. "Looks like spring cleaning didn't go over so well."

"Yeah, getting stains out of the carpet is oddly challenging." The lead operator laughs. "Maybe I should bring my wife over; she'll get rid of the stains like that." He snaps his fingers.

Murata (and a few others) chuckle at the joke. "What's the situation?" His tone was now all business.

"It doesn't look like the Usean bastards have figured out what we did here." The lead operator replied. "We've established about sixty percent control over the base's functionality."

"Only sixty? What's left?" Azrael scowls.

"A lot of the minor base defenses." The operator brings out a large map of the entire Stonehenge installation on the control room's large array of screens and color coded the sections that they had control over. "It's incredible how many turrets this place has, not to mention the AI-controlled interceptors…whoever designed this place wanted this installation to withstand the apocalypse itself."

Azrael scanned the screens, noting several weapon names he did not recognize. "And you have no control over them."

"The technicians are worried that if we force them too hard we'll alert their ex-bosses." The lead operator explained. "So they're taking it nice and slow just to be on the safe side."

"Fair enough." Azrael shrugs. "Keep up the good work, and if Usea calls…"

"We play along like good little puppies. I know, boss." The operator grins.

…

…

[Orb]

…

"Uh, guys? We have a problem." A radar operator said. "There're a lot of beeps on the horizon."

"So they're finally going to do it." The lead operator gulped. "Send message to high command, and tell all bases to scramble all assets…bring it up on monitor."

"Roger." Another radar operator pushed a button, and the large screen in front of all of them turned into a colorful display of blue dots…with a paint-like smear of red approaching from the northeast.

…

"So they're finally doing it." Kira breathed. "Oh boy…this is going to be bad." He scanned the horizon one more time, hoping that at least some of the points he saw were just illusions.

"Kira," Captain Murrue's voice came over the radio. "We'll be stationed over the northern city in order to protect against the edge of the enemy attack."

"Got it." Kira looked around at the empty hangar. "It feels so barren now."

"Yeah?" Mu looked around as well. "Not having the four sets of Spearheads will do that, I suppose. Don't get distracted out there, kid. This is by far the biggest battle we've ever been in."

"Why are the Feds doing this?" Tolle demanded. "This doesn't make any sense."

"It's almost as if they're looking to be destroyed." Kira agreed. "Even if they succeed, Usea and ZAFT will both drive in and annihilate the Atlantic Federation, so what are they trying to gain from doing this?"

"Maybe there's nothing for them to gain." Mu said darkly. "Considering the Atlantic Federation's reputation, the world will be better for it if they became the greatest evil…and then died."

Kira scowled. The implications behind someone sacrificing an entire nation as (what appears to be) a political ploy didn't sit well with him.

"But…that's future talk. Focus on the fight right now." Mu bopped Kira lightly on the helmet.

…

Elsewhere, a pair of Astrays were preparing to launch…one with black wings, and one with a single, red arm.

"Takes you back, doesn't it." Pixy says, going through his pre-flight checklist. "The first time we met back home was to protect a nation from going under."

"I think our situation right now is a little bit worse though." Cipher laughs. "Maybe they'll get careless and send lightly escorted bombers our way again."

"Belka wasn't known for its sophisticated decision making." Pixy chuckles…and there was a moment of silence between them. "Buddy…let's do this."

"Yeah." Cipher took a deep breath. "Ustio 6th Fighter Division, 66th Unit. Galm Team Number One, Cipher, taking off!"

"That's a hell of a mouthful." Pixy laughed. "Galm Two, Pixy, launching!"

…

…

"Hoo boy." Chopper rubbed his eyes. "Someone, tell me I'm dreaming."

"You're dreaming something, alright." Bartlett responds. "Jesus, how did it come down to this?"

The two of them stared silently at the approaching tide of Federation aircraft.

"The Feds are insane, that's how." Yellow 13 sighed. "I wonder if they ever considered stepping back and reconsidering their line of action?"

"It's pretty hard when their initial cause for war was to wipe out space aliens." Chopper grumbles. "Almost makes me wish the Yukes were still around."

Yuktobania was the opposing country of the war Chopper participated in.

"I don't think it'd be that different if the Yukes were around." Blaze pointed out. "Our war was also one of vengeance."

"Vengeance or no, we have a show to perform today." Bartlett chided them. "Focus on the task at hand."

"Speaking of which," Chopper felt like this was the biggest issue. "What should our formation be?"

"I'll take Antares." Yellow 13 said.

"That's fine with me." Antares just wanted to shoot some guns.

Colonel Bishop chipped in. "I'll fly in your formation as well, Yellow 13."

"In that case...Wardog leader to all aircraft, check in." Bartlett grins.

"Wardog Two, roger." Blaze has a self-satisfied smirk.

"What? I'm three again? Aww." Chopper rolls his aircraft in protest. "Aww. Wardog three, ready."

Bartlett cracked his knuckles. "Alright, all aircraft, prepare to engage. Protect Orb at all costs."

…

…

"Dad, uh…" Cagalli scratches her head, nervous at facing her father even through a monitor. "I uh…"

"You snuck aboard the Archangel." Her father, Uzumi Nara Athha, finished for her. "I know, Cagalli, I know."

"Sorry, dad. I just—I remember what you said about seeing the war with my own eyes, and what I've seen is that this war is big and stupid…and I can't just sit back and do nothing."

"Indeed." Uzumi sighed. "It would seem as if all sides in this conflict have decided to act in the worst possible ways."

"You're…uh…not mad, are you?" Cagalli asks hesitantly.

"I am very mad." Uzumi says evenly. "Especially at how you've apparently decided to join the fighting."

Cagalli looked down at her flight suit and couldn't really argue the point. "Dad, Orb is in danger of being wiped off the map, I can't pretend as if our ideology will somehow save us from a bullet to the face."

"It is precisely because we are so challenged that we must hold to our ideology." Uzumi said. "What good would it do if the Orb you protected was not the same you went to war for?"

Cagalli was never too fond of her dad talking about ideals. "But people can die _right now_."

"Some of them will likely die by your hands." Uzumi pointed out.

"I know that." Cagalli growled. "I'm ready for it."

_It's not a matter of if you have the mental fortitude to kill the enemy in front of you, Cagalli. _Uzumi thought.

…

"Kid troubles?" Siegel Clyne asked Uzumi after the Lion of Orb's conversation with her daughter.

"When did she become so bold?" Uzumi chuckled. "I'm deeply worried that she will die out there."

"Makes the two of us…but we can't shelter them forever, not when the reality is on our doorstep." Siegel sighed. "Lacus is out there too, you know? She's really taken a liking to that Yamato kid. She's out there soothing the civilians."

"You got someone on him?" Uzumi asked. "I got a smart bodyguard you can borrow."

"He seems like a good enough kid." Siegel laughed. "No need to stick a gun in his back just yet."

Uzumi shook his head. "If you say so."

Siegel observed his newfound friend carefully. "What will you do, Athha?"

"I will wait here." Uzumi said firmly. "Until the last moment, if need be."

…

…

"This is AWACS Thunderhead, Wardog Squadron, do you copy?"

"We hear you, Thunderhead." Captain Bartlett responded. "Go ahead."

"Roger. Wardog, be advised, the Federation is fielding a large amount of unmanned aircraft and Mobile Suits. They're going to overwhelm us with numbers. "

"No, really? I would've never guessed." Chopper muttered as he scanned his radar. "You'd think the Federation people would notice if their tax dollars turned into a million jet fighters."

"It doesn't look like they're going to do anything besides overwhelming us with numbers, though." Blaze observed. "They're hanging back too far."

Thunderhead sighed in relief. "Good. We're going to overlay a Jamming field over the combat area to help dampen the effect of the AI controlled units. All aircraft, you may experience decreased sensor abilities, so be careful out there."

…

"I think we can handle having some of our electronics knocked out." Antares said confidently. "Go right ahead, Canopus."

"AWACS Canopus copies, commencing Electronic Combat."

The AWACS aircraft (still practically invisible when viewed from their bellies) started to scramble all forms of communication in the area between the incoming Federation blob of units and the Orb defenders.

…

In response to the jamming, the Federation ships staggered their AI-controlled units to approach Orb in waves (having less units at once reduce the risk of the AI bugging out due to the scrambling).

"The things we do for our goddamned country." The Federation fleet commander snarled. "Let's get this over with. All ships commence fire!" As his ship shook from the missiles launching from their tubes, he heard one of the operators report that the special support ships were slow to arrive.

_And thank god for that. _He thought.

…

"Incoming cruise missiles!" Thunderhead alerted. "All units get ready for intercept, don't let those missiles reach the cities."

The cruise missiles flew towards the Orb shoreline (a few of them detonated prematurely due to the jamming) before the majority of the rest of them were intercepted by the ground units lined up on the island. The rest caused some minor damage to the Orb's landmass and city outskirt areas.

"Here comes the main force." Bartlett warned. "Alright, don't get overeager and fight conservatively. We're going to be out here a while."

"Blaze, roger."

"Chopper, roger."

…

…

"Looks like the center line has started, Kira." Tolle reported. "They should be coming up here to this area soon."

"Yeah." Kira looked back at the Archangel, and at the oddly pink-colored Strike Gundam besides him. "Cagalli, are you sure about this?"

"This is _my_ house they're stomping into." Cagalli snaps. "Of course I'm sure about this. I got a bullet for every last one of the bastards." The eyes of her pink Strike, the Strike Rouge, glowed in agreement.

"Don't lose your head in the clouds, girly." Mu chided. "Or it'll cost you in the future."

"For the time being…stick close to your wingmen." Kira sighed. "I won't be able to protect all of you in this fight."

"This isn't about protecting us, Mister Yamato." An Astray with a paintjob of black with red streaks flew up and landed next to the (normal) Strike. "We're here to protect everyone."

"And who might you be?" Tolle asked.

"Nicol. Nicol Amalfi." The pilot of the Astray replied. "I've decided to help."

_Don't remember him. _Tolle thought. "Nicol, huh? Kind of a girly name."

Nicol rolled his eye. "I know, I know…I get plenty of it back home."

"As opposed to Cagalli who I thought was a boy." Kira muttered.

"You 'thought'? So you changed your mind at some point?" Tolle grinned.

Kira paused, sensing a social landmine. "Er."

"I swear to god Kira if you call me a boy one more time—" Cagalli said, indignant.

"I couldn't help it! You were boyish!" Kira defended himself…badly.

"Enough, kids…save it for the after-party." Mu stepped in. "It looks like we have company, too."

Kira scanned his radar and saw the first wave of AI-Spearheads coming in. "Ok…what's the plan, Mu?"

"Since we don't have the numbers for a straight up air superiority fight, we're going to let them get within range of the coastline before picking them down." Mu said. "Astray pilots, aim carefully and make your shots count!"

…

Unknown to both groups, the third area of operations (south-east edge, closest to Morgenroete) was actually hit first.

While the Orb forces had better training and positioning, the overwhelming numbers of the Federation units slowly wore away at the Orb line.

"Do not let the enemy onto our shores!" The Orb commander in charge of the theater roared. "We must not let them get near!"

"Said the guy that let them onto our shores not too long ago." One of the operators muttered under her breath. "Three Daggers are approaching section 2-A, Negi team, please intercept."

A trio of Astrays radioed in their affirmative and engaged the Daggers with their beam sabers. The Daggers responded in kind and the two groups went into mech-on-mech swordfight action.

"A flight of Spearheads are descending on section 6-D, AA group 5, prepare to intercept." A second operator said.

A line of Anti-Aircraft vehicles angled their guns high, and peppered the air with streaks of bullets. Some Spearheads flew through the streaks and left a smoking mess while others evaded the streaks long enough to drop bombs onto the AA vehicles, turning the tank-like vehicles into scrap metal.

There were, unfortunately, more Spearheads than AA guns.

"Five Spearheads have entered section 5-A. Megumi team, intercept."

"Two Daggers sighted in section 1-C, moving into 1-B. Oliver team, cut off their movements."

"Enemy warship bombarding the shoreline. Sakura team, please fall back along the highway."

"Dammit." One of the field captains growled. "We're slowly being overwhelmed here." An explosion then grabbed his attention. "Control, what happened?"

"The enemy has broken the defensive line at 1-B." An operator responded. "Daggers are coming in your direction."

Another operator then noticed two dots with friendly IFFs…but not of Orb designation. "Wait a moment, two allied units are approaching sector 1-B at high speed."

"Well, tell them to get here faster." The field captain leveled his Astray's beam rifle towards the general direction of section 1-B. "All units keep your eyes open. Ground units, provide us support."

The ground units – normal tanks – raised their barrels in acknowledgement.

Soon enough, the field captain caught the dozen or so Daggers charging straight towards them, and locked onto the nearest one. "Fire!"

The combined Orb unit of 3 Astrays and 6 Tanks fired in unison, bringing down two Daggers while the rest scattered and approached in a pincer movement.

In unison, the ten Daggers returned fire with their beam rifles in a movement entirely unrelated to their maneuvering.

"Looks like their shooting AI needs work." The field captain grinned savagely as the Dagger's counter fire went wide. "Don't falter, take them out!"

"Above you!" One of his teammates called out.

The captain's response was to accelerate and move away from his location, and the bomb from a Spearhead flying over his head impacted the spot he was at relatively harmlessly.

"Shit, where did they come from?" The captain growled, focusing his attention on the Spearheads over his head…dividing his attention just long enough for one of the Daggers to charge into his Astray's backside with its beam saber and running its pilot through.

"Captain! Dammit!" One of his teammates shot the offending Dagger and killed it. "We're—whoa!" He moved to parry another Dagger's beam saber with his shield while counter-firing with the Vulcans on his Astray's head and taking out his attacker's head cameras in response.

"Command, we're losing control of the sector." The captain of the tank unit said as his unit blasted a Dagger's leg off. "Requesting reinforcements."

"Uh…more enemy Daggers are headed your way from 2-A." Was the Operator's response. "We're stretched thin as it is."

"Damn, we're pulling back then." The tank captain said as the tank next to his suffered a direct hit and exploded. "No point fighting at a severe disadvantage. All units fall back, we're regrouping!"

Easier said than done; the second of the three Astrays was cut down by the incoming—and now reinforced—Daggers.

All the Daggers fired in unison again and tore through three more tanks and the last Astray.

"We don't get to run, I see." The tank captain sighed. "Fine, if that's how it's gonna be…Fire! Fire everything we have!"

The tanks raised their barrels as the Daggers aimed their beam rifles.

"Sorry we're late."

The tank captain looked up to see a salvo of beam rifle fire, and six of the ten offending Daggers fell almost at once. (Plus a seventh, since it tripped over its fallen compatriots).

A pair of Astrays flew over the captain's tank…one with black wings, and one with a single red arm.

"I've never seen paintjobs like that before." The tank captain muttered. "Thanks for your support, whoever you are."

"Sure." Solo Wing Pixy responded. "Galm Two to Galm One, we have a lot of area to cover, so let's do this quick."

"Yeah." Cipher, the Demon Lord of the Round Table, responded evenly.

The remaining Daggers fired at the two newcomers with surprising accuracy.

"Whoa, that's pretty good." Pixy maneuvered around the shots without problems. "Would've gotten me a long time ago." With two swift strokes of his beam saber he dispatched two of the Daggers.

"Yeah." Cipher parried the two shots with his beam saber (attached to the offhand shield) and shot down his two attackers with his Beam rifle.

"More Daggers approaching section 1-B." The command operators came over the radio. "They're being backed up by Spearheads. Do not let the Spearheads deeper into the island."

"Roger." Pixy replied. "Galm Two, commencing intercept."

"Galm One to Galm Two." Cipher said. "I'll leave the enemies in the skies to you."

Pixy had a slight smile as he heard that. "Free engagement with air priority, huh? Roger, leave it to me."

…

[Back at the Central Command Room]

…

An operator observing the Galm team's battle blinked hard. "What…what are those two?"

His next seat neighbor leaned in. "What's going on over there? Good things?"

"Look at those two." The first operator pointed to two blue friendly dots being approached by a steady stream of red dots…with the red dots disappearing before they got close to the blue ones. "The two of them alone are holding off the bulk of the attackers on the south-east theater."

His neighbor blinked in surprise. "Whoa, really? Who are they?"

"That doesn't matter." Their immediate superior bopped both of them on the head. "Focus on defending the homeland and stop chattering." Then he leaned down and whispered into their ears. "There are reporters buzzing all around the coastline. Drop a hint to one of them."

…

…

[Northern Theater, Archangel]

…

…

Compared to the other two coastlines, the northern theater received the greatest amount of mobile armor (read: Spearhead) attacks, due to its distance from the Federation ships and the relatively higher speed of the Spearheads.

This meant that that Archangel was having a hell of a time fighting the small, agile fighters…initially.

"Ok, we've set up." Mu reported. "Canopus, do your thing!"

"Canopus, Roger." The AWACS operator cracked his knuckles. "Unleashing High Performance Jamming."

High Performance Jamming was just the jamming they are currently using…but unleashed at a much higher level. It affects everyone on the field, but against the AI-controlled Spearheads, who have no subsystems to help maintain their aircraft (called pilots) it is especially lethal.

The Spearheads, it should be said, are designed well enough that they will not lose altitude while their computers recover, but the temporary disruption in their flight capabilities is more than enough for the Archangel crew to pick off the fighters through visual detection while said fighters cruise in a lazy straight line.

As it so happens, this particular batch of AI fighters lost roughly two-third of their numbers before they recovered.

"Enemy Fighters have regained control." Tolle reported. "Jeez. They really get going when they get going, huh?"

The Fighters he was referring to regained control and immediately performed very sharp turns to avoid being shot down by Kira. It helped some.

"That's six." Kira counted to himself. "Any more?"

"The rest are being handled by the AA units." Canopus replied. "Strike Gundam, return and rearm, the second wave is undoubtedly coming soon."

"Already? I have most of my power from the last resupply." Kira, though a bit surprised, followed the order to return and change batteries.

"We'll handle it out here while you eat." Cagalli grinned. "So be a good boy and listen to your elders, yeah?"

Kira rolled his eyes. "Aren't I older than you?"

"Details, details." Cagalli waved his comment away and fired at the Spearheads over her head, with comparatively less results than Kira.

…

…

[Center Theater, Wardog, Yellow Squadrons]

…

Compared to the other two theaters, the center line is closest to the bulk of the federation fleet, meaning that it received two things: more Daggers, and enemy fire support.

The first part was already annoying, as the Daggers' improved AI put them on more than equal footing with the technologically superior but relatively less accurate Astrays…and the Daggers have armor that more than just rudimentary protection against aircraft missiles, to say nothing of the smaller caliber guns.

Doesn't stop the Aces any, though.

"Wardog Two, I'm making my run." Blaze declares before diving down towards a trio of Daggers.

"We hear you, Wardog two, ready to support." A pair of nearby Astrays reply and aim their beam rifles toward the Daggers.

Blaze zips over the three Daggers, getting the attention of their Artificial Intelligence and earning some Vulcan fire in response. The Daggers were then destroyed (or at least unable to continue combat) via beam rifle fire from the two supporting Astrays.

"Enemy ships are firing onto the shore, all units take cover." Thunderhead warned. "ETA in five…four…"

The two Astrays turned and ran to hide behind some abandoned skyscrapers while Blaze simply climbed above the clouds.

Bartlett gritted his teeth as the first shots from the Federation warships hit the shoreline. "Damn, how many volleys is that now? At this rate our forces aren't going to last."

"We're stretched too thin trying to cover the entire line by ourselves." Yellow 13 agreed, still in the middle of an evasive maneuver to shake off a Spearhead on his tail. "We don't have enough Astrays to perform any kind of offensive positioning."

"It would be better if we were to operate as a marauding force instead of fixing ourselves to one line." Talisman pointed out. "That way we'll be able to provide more thorough support before needing to move on."

"Can the line hold out by itself if we acted like that?" Chopper wondered.

A panicked voice interrupted their thoughts. "All units, we're having serious trouble at section 13-C! We request immediate assistance!"

"Let's do it. All units follow my lead." Talisman said automatically as he banked and zoomed towards the section in danger.

"Your lead? Hey! Wait!" Chopper groaned. "God, what's with him?!"

"I think he knows what he's doing." Blaze observed. "Let's go. The sooner we free up a unit the better."

Bartlett was of the same mind. "Yeah. Wardog squadron, assist Garuda One as necessary."

"Yellow squadron, the same."

…

"What the heck? Our top cover is leaving." One Astray pilot (Pilot A) on the ground observed.

His captain knew what was going on. "They can move freely, we can't; all units hold your ground and fight defensively until they can come back."

"Like we have a choice." Pilot A muttered as a ship-fired shell exploded very close to his Astray.

…

Sector 13-C was in serious trouble.

Of the six Astrays assigned to the area, only two were still alive and kicking…against a total of eight Daggers still advancing on their position.

(Two Astrays plus assorted tanks and anti-aircraft gun vehicles, but against a mobile suit they are not too useful.)

"Anyone out there, please respond!" The new captain due to field promotion called frantically into the radio. "We need help!"

"Everyone else has their hands full." His teammate said glumly. "Let's do the best we can here."

"Shit, man! We're gonna die out here!" The leader is less than composed. "Somebody! Anybody!"

"This is, Garuda One, providing close air support." A reassuring voice said on the radio. "Sit tight, we're here."

A squadron of fighters comprised of X-02s and Shindens zoomed above the heads of the remaining Astrays, and they dove into the Daggers without a shred of hesitation.

"Don't worry about destroying them outright, attack their cameras!" Talisman commanded.

"That's not really possible." Chopper pointed out as Blaze dove down onto a Dagger. The Dagger looked up to aim and received a missile to the face. "For the rest of us." Chopper amended.

"Good thing all of us are the best of the best." Antares said with a feral grin on his face. "Let's do this. Commencing close range support!"

"Is it really a support if we're doing the attacking?" Bishop chuckled. "Bishop, commencing attack."

…

"They don't have any fear, do they?" The previously panicking captain said in awe, watching the fighters dodge shot after shot with the bare minimum of movement, never once wavering from their intended target. "Where did they learn to fly like that?"

"It doesn't matter." His wingman snapped. "We need to get in there and help!"

"Don't need to tell me twice. All Orb units! Assist those Aces!"

The two Astrays charged out of their cover and rained fire upon the Daggers which were distracted by the fighters buzzing around them.

In what seemed to be no time at all, the eight Daggers were brought down through the combination of fancy flying and beam rifle fire.

"Garuda One, thanks for the help." The captain exhaled deeply. "We're going to pull back to 12-C and reinforce the group there."

"What about us?" Chopper asked indignantly.

"Garuda One, roger." Talisman said, overriding Chopper. "Godspeed and good luck."

…

…

…

The Federation side wasn't having the best of days.

On one hand, they have these top of the line AI-controlled fighters that can be mass produced on a frighteningly large scale...

On the other, they can't really use all of them at once and the waves that they're sending are proving themselves to be good at only dealing superfluous damage.

It's been two hours since the battle started, and Orb, though battered, was far from out.

"Group 19 has been entirely destroyed." An operator aboard the Federation Flagship carrier reported. "Group 20 has suffered an ECM attack and is unresponsive."

"How are they still holding out?" The ship commander wondered. "Their Astrays aren't supposed to be _that _good."

"Well, sir…" An operator responds in a small voice. "The southern flank is being held back by a team of two Astrays."

"Their Paparazzi is making a huge fuss, too." Her next door neighbor added. "Take a look at this."

The operator brought up what could only be a live feed from the battleground. The crew of the ship watched as the Astray with black wings caught a Spearhead before it hit the ground (it was shot down by Pixy). Said Astray then tossed the entire Spearhead into an advancing Dagger like…well, a spear, and destroyed both machines in the process.

They even heard the chatter over the general radio band, too.

"Cipher, I see that you're way more vicious when we're just dealing with drones." Pixy commented.

"There's no reason to hold back against them…but I am still getting used to the Astray's control scheme." Cipher replied modestly as threw one Dagger into another and impaled both of them with a streetlight.

"As expected of the Demon Lord, I suppose." Pixy laughed, downing Spearheads like flies with his beam rifle. "If we keep this up we're going to win without any problems."

The Federation crew didn't know who was talking, but knew well enough that it was the enemy talking.

"So he says." The Fed captain grunts. "He's got his head in the clouds."

_Yeah, but they _are_ winning. _The operator of the video thought. "Your orders, sir?"

"Send message to Azrael." The captain said dismissively. "Let them handle it."

…

…

[Stonehenge]

…

…

"Let us handle it?" Murata Azrael frowned. "The hell…what could possibly be the problem?"

The messenger shrugged. "By the sound of things, the AIs they're using are hampered by ECM, so they can't deploy enough of them and keep them all combat-able."

"Good to know." Azrael sighed. "What's Usea doing?" He asked his Stonehenge commander.

"As long as we're not obviously blasting Orb to pieces, we should be safe from detection." The commander replied.

"Alright, I guess this is as good of a time as any. Fire on the coast line, get a feel of how to use the cannons." Azrael commanded.

…

…

[Orb]

…

…

"All aircraft! Warning!" Thunderhead's voice boomed throughout all radios (Federation and Orb units). "Incoming fire from Stonehenge, take evasive action!"

"What? Dammit." Kira turned and scanned the skies in Stonehenge's direction, hoping to see an incoming shell. "Those bastards!" He growled as the Strike dropped to the ocean surface.

"Impact in five…four…" Thunderhead counted down.

"Is there anything we can do to stop them from hitting us?" Nicol asked as he followed Kira down.

"Not with what we've got." Cagalli snarled. "Don't you _dare_ hit our city you-"

Whatever she was about to yell at the incoming ammunition was drowned out by the roar of the Stonehenge rounds exploding (relatively) harmlessly in the air.

…

"Yikes." Bartlett muttered. "They're pretty scary from up here, alright."

He (along with the rest of the Wardog squadron) opted to stay at altitude instead of diving for the deck.

"It doesn't look like they're aiming to kill, fortunately." Blaze noted. "I think we can continue combat operations without too many problems."

"They're using the type two shells." Sky Eye said. "We'll give you a heads up if there are any impact areas in your current combat area, so fly without worries."

"Roger that, Sky Eye." Bartlett said. "All units continue attack."

…

"It sounds like they're opening up on the western fronts." Pixy said. "Think they're coming after us next?"

"There will be hell to pay for them if they do." Cipher replied. "We're closest to the metropolis areas."

"I hear you, Cipher." Pixy grimaced. "Then how about we push these toys all the way back to their ships?"

Cipher grinned upon the suggestion. "I thought you'd never ask."

…

…

…

When the Stonehenge rounds exploded in midair, the world stopped to watch. Orb's mobilization of its press and its neutral satellite systems allowed the entirety world (and PLANT to some extent) to see the Stonehenge's destructive power…and the planes that continued to fight despite the threat posed by the guns.

There was, however, one pilot that didn't look twice when the guns fired. Instead, he climbed into his plane and took to the skies, racing towards Stonehenge as quickly as his plane allowed.

"Mobius One, Mister Ribbon." The plane's control AI, Nemo, started to say. "You did not leave with your full load of missiles."

"We have the autocannons and the EMLs. It'll be enough." Ribbon said tersely.

"You think?" A girl's voice laughed as his missile alert went off.

"We have guests." Nemo commented emotionlessly as Ribbon's CFA-144 Dracula pulled higher into the air.

Ribbon narrowed his eyes when he saw the attacker. "You again?" He said over the common frequency. "It was fun last time, so stay out of my way this time."

"What?" The girl in the opposing Nosferatu laughed. "I almost got you last time, don't lie. It'll be the same today, too."

Ribbon was not in the mood to play, and he no longer lacked the disadvantage in maneuverability this time. "Mobius One, engaging."

"Oh my, how manly." The girl didn't seem to take him seriously, and angled her Nosferatu down to meet him in a head-on joust.

The two planes charged towards each other…and then immediately broke off from said charge almost simultaneously.

"Looks like you won this one." The girl grumbled as her cockpit alerted her of a hole in her fuselage. She almost wanted to give chase to the ribbon fighter, but thought better of it: what she had hoped would have been an exciting duel was instead a very clear warning from its pilot…and she was, at least, smart enough to know when it's time to leave, especially when her opponent's EML shot would've hit her cockpit had it been off by a mere foot.

…

"That girl has good senses." Nemo commended as they watched the blip that was the Nosferatu leave their radar range. "You decided the battle in one shot, sir."

"Let's just focus on the task at hand." Ribbon said curtly, still on full afterburners towards Stonehenge.

"Yes sir." Nemo said. "Sir, I'm reading aircraft not of EFA origins on the horizon."

…

…

[Orb]

…

…

The inclusion of Stonehenge explosions all along the coastline of Orb was not kind to its defensive forces.

While the Blue Cosmos currently in command of Stonehenge are not nearly as competent as its original crew, the psychological effect of the massive explosives was more than enough to cause the Orb line to buckle and break in many areas time and time again. Not even the Aces in the sky, as overwhelming as they were, were able to keep the forces rallied, and the psychological boost provided by the Aces (or, rather, the lack of the boost) was all the more apparent whenever they needed to return to rearm.

Even so, in the face of a never-ending stream of enemies plus constant long range bombardment, the Orb lines held for another two hours before it showed signs of breaking.

"Damn, this is looking pretty bad." Chopper observed when he noticed how deep into the island the Daggers had gotten. "I don't think we'll be able to keep this up for much longer."

"We'll keep this up for as long as we need to push them back." Blaze said confidently as he launched a missile at the Dagger in front of him. "That's all there is to it."

"You make it sound way easier than it has any right to be." Chopper sighed and engaged an AI-Spearhead.

"Blaze is right." Bishop responded. "There's no room for retreat here: if the defensive units are pushed back any further then the airfield will be compromised."

The airfield happens to be a stretch of highway that the planes can use for rearming.

"Well, hell." Chopper said. "Thunderhead, we got anymore death coming above us?"

"Predicted volley incoming ETA 90 seconds." Thunderhead responded. "Showing approximate impact ranges now."

"This keeps on getting better and better." Yellow 13 sighed. "Ground units, we'll work in tandem to take down the enemy, so keep your eyes open."

…

[Federation Side]

…

"They're still not falling?!" The captain slammed his fist into the armrest of his chair again. "How?!"

"Uh…they're flying around the explosions." An operator said in awe.

"That's not possible!" The armrest was hit again. "What's the status on the satellite hack?"

"We're getting a live feed…now."

The operator responsible for hacking into the Orb satellites stared at the screen, blinked twice, then stared at it again.

"And?" The captain demanded.

"There…there are enemy support aircraft in the sky?" The operator frowned. "But they're not showing up on radar at all!"

"Then they're stealth!" The armrest was hit again. "Tell Stonehenge to fire at the sky, kill the damned support planes!"

"He's really going off the deep end, isn't he?" One of the operators (sitting far away from the captain) muttered.

"Totally." Her neighbor sighed.

…

…

Cipher felt a tug in his stomach, and stopped to look up.

"What the hell is that?" One of the Orb pilots asked…right as a beam of light split the air (and a few Spearheads).

"Oh hell no." Pixy growled, switching to an open frequency. "All units listen up! Excalibur is firing on us! AWACS, we need combat support!"

"Currently impossible, dammit!" Canopus replied.

Pixy looked up to see…the AWACS aircraft. A small speck in the sky, but definitely visible…and smoking slightly. "Canopus, are you ok?"

"Yeah, the beam of light missed." Canopus replied as threat alarms started popping up all over the radio. "But the heat of the weapon damaged our stealth coating. We're being targeted by every fighter in the region."

"Dammit. Cipher." Pixy said. "We should head back."

"Negative. Let the others handle it." Cipher replied. "Every time we hit near the enemy ships, they send out less units to attack the coastline."

"So we're driving straight into the enemy fleet this time, huh?" Pixy nodded. "I understand. I'll follow your lead."

…

"Wardog! Engage! Protect the AWACS!" Bartlett roared as his aircraft climbed steeply to intercept the handful of Spearheads gunning for the AWACS aircraft.

"Yellow Squadron, take down the enemy!" Yellow 13 commanded as he joined in the fray.

The Spearheads at least had the decency to break off of their attack on the AWACS for long enough to let the two squadrons catch up.

The airspace below AWACS Canopus quickly turned into a tangled mess of jets and missiles.

…

"So that was their secret." The Federation captain grinned savagely. "Look at them running to save it."

"Captain, their AWACS is no longer emitting ECM. We can send all of our units through the middle section now."

The captain chuckled darkly. "Do it."

…

"Damn!" Blaze snarled as a Spearhead escaped his attention and charged towards the AWACS. "Canopus, I let one through!"

"I'm on him." Bishop said, chasing down the Spearhead and bringing it down with a hail of gunfire before it had too much time to shoot at the large, cumbersome retrofitted airliner. "Canopus, state your situation."

"We've taken sporadic fire, but nothing serious…no incoming fire from Stonehenge either." Crux (also aboard the AWACS aircraft) said. "But it looks like we're about to have a lot more company up here."

"Canopus, retreat from the airspace." Thunderhead warned with a slight break in his voice. "The ECM coverage is gone and the EFA is sending all of their units."

There was a moment of silence.

"Shit." Bishop said, as the swarm of Spearheads flew up to join in the fray.

"We'll cover Canopus's retreat. All units, fight defensively and don't stray too far from the pack." Bartlett ordered.

"Even if we fight defensively, we're going against AIs. They're just going to ignore us and go straight for the AWACS." Talisman pointed out.

"Then we better shoot them down before they get within range." Bartlett replied.

And then, suddenly, almost all of the Spearheads turned around.

…

"What do you mean, 'they're coming back'?!" The Federation captain slammed on his seat armrest once more. "Override their AIs and tell them to shoot down those support aircraft!"

"They're coming back to protect the ship…" An operator breathed. "So that means…oh shit! Incoming!"

…

The bridge of the Spengler class carrier, seated as it was high above every other ship in the vicinity, took a direct hit from a beam rifle shot and exploded.

"Direct hit on Carrier." Pixy reported. "They won't be bothering us for a while."

"They have a lot more Carriers that just that one." Cipher said, looking at the hundreds of ships spread out over the massive piece of ocean real estate. "We won't be able to get all of them."

"Then let's focus on the ones we can hit; they'll have to maneuver around every ship we sink." Pixy said confidently. "Galm Two, engaging." He declared as he tore through another ship's deck gun with his beam rifle.

"Galm One, engaging." Cipher had, at some point, obtained a second beam rifle, and is now dual wielding beam rifles to great effect.

…

"I don't know what made them leave." Bartlett said. "But it sure as hell worked out for us. Concentrate on taking down the remaining units; focus on the ones that suicide rush the AWACS first."

"Wardog two, roger." Blaze executed a barrel roll to get behind an AI-Spearhead and brought it down with a missile.

"Incoming from Stonehenge." Skyeye (aboard AWACS Thunderhead) said suddenly. "All aircraft brace for impact. Displaying impact areas on your radar; don't get shot down."

"Just when I thought we could breathe." Chopper grimaced and felt his aircraft shake. "Ow. Someone just hit me."

"I'm on him." Talisman said as he went after the Spearhead on Chopper's tail. "Looks like a customized Spearhead." He observed.

"Warning, incoming fire from the Excalibur." Thunderhead growled. "They're trying to kill us all. Canopus, drop your altitude, you're in its line of fire."

"Canopus, roger, commencing rapid descent."

…

…

[Space]

…

…

The ZAFT boys were watching this massive battle from the Orb media camera feed…while safely aboard the Eternal.

On one hand, the media were given access to the general frequency (so the pilots could yell at civilians and get them to evacuate certain combat areas, and to direct traffic for the Anti-Air tanks being driven everywhere) and thus the ZAFT boys were able to hear both the increasingly panicky chatter between the groups before they were pacified by what could only be war veterans in the sky.

"It's probably those guys." Dearka had pointed out the first time they saw the Orb forces rally behind a single jet in the air. "They're the only ones who can bolster morale that much with just their field presence."

On the other hand…

"I swear, the Federation is staffed by total morons nowadays." Dearka grumbled. "They should've known that this invasion was going to go badly now that Usea is in the picture."

Athrun shook his head. "After seeing what they've been doing up to now I'm really expecting there to be a puppeteer behind all of this…who are the major arms manufacturers on Earth again?"

"There's really only one, unless there's someone else in Usea I'm not aware of, and that's Logos." Yzak said.

"Whoever named their company must've had a really rough day." Dearka joked. "Naming your company after a word in common use has to be incredibly stupid."

"Given their links to Blue Cosmos…sorry, their _supposed _links to Blue Cosmos, I'm not all that surprised nobody wanted a piece of them." Athrun observed. "What did you expect us to learn by showing this to us?" He asked of Andrew Waltfield.

"Nothing, really." Waltfield shrugged nonchalantly. "It's boring out here and I figured learning more about our earthling friends would be good for us."

"Speaking of learning, what are those ships back there?" Yzak asked as the camera view switched to one of the news reporter helicopter cameras.

"Whoever's flying that helicopter has balls of steel, by the way." Dearka pointed out as he squinted at the horizon. "If only he could keep the damn thing still."

"They don't look like the usual Fed Cruiser." Yzak said, squinting as well. "Their cross section doesn't fit. It looks like they have something tied on top of the ships."

_What could it be? _Athrun wondered.

…

"Wait a minute." A Federation commander near the center of the flotilla of Federation ships said. "Those ships behind us…why are they moving?"

"It seems as if they received an order to fire, sir." The operator sitting next to him said. "They're moving into contact range."

"Those things are the…no. dammit!" The commander snarled. "Hail those ships! Tell them to rescind those orders and stand down immediately!"

"But, sir, it's an order from high command—" The operator protested hesitantly; she didn't want to see the large missiles fired at Orb either.

"High command can take a steel pole and sit on it." The commander snapped. "God himself could issue the command, and I'll still tell them to stop. Hurry it up!"

"Yes sir." The operator smiled, before steeling herself for the probably futile task. "This the Spengler Class Carrier baseship Belisarius, special op destroyers, please stand by. I repeat, special op destroyers, please stand by…"

…

[Archangel]

…

The Strike (and Strike Rouge, Cagalli's pink equivalent) were docked in the Archangel for resupply. The two pilots were sitting out of cockpit to refresh before heading back out again.

"What is this deeply oppressive feeling?" Kira murmured, staring at the ground as his stomach suddenly dropped to his feet.

"Huh? You say something?" Cagalli, who was nearby, barely heard him.

"Not really." Kira waved it off. _Something big is going to happen. I can feel it._ "Can we head out?" He asked Murdoch as the older man walked briskly by.

"In five minutes. The last battery overheated and leaked all over the damn place." Murdoch responded. "This kind of war is hard on the engineering."

_Five minutes…do we have five minutes? _Kira felt like praying, for some reason.

…

[Federation ships]

…

"Cipher, those ships back there are bad news." Pixy sounded afraid for once. "I don't know what missiles they're packing but they're definitely bad news."

"Dammit. I don't think we can take them as we are right now." Cipher and Pixy were forced to keep moving through the Federation fleet in increasingly complicated flight patterns to avoid being shot down. "New plan, we're bugging out." Cipher said.

"But they're right there!" Pixy resisted as he fired at the Destroyer, barely missing its bridge. "If we kill them here we win!"

"We can't kill them here, that's the point." Cipher grimaces as a stray shot struck his left-hand beam rifle, forcing him to toss it away before it exploded. "Their Dumbheads are coming after us, too…we're not the only ones in this fight, Pixy."

"Right, understood." Pixy nodded and tossed his shield into the Cruiser directly in front of him in retaliation of it damaging his leg. "Alright then, I'm pulling out."

The two Astrays quickly made their exit, leaving the Federation fleet bullets in the dust behind them.

…

…

The Destroyers, without fanfare, released a salvo of five missiles towards the nation of Orb.

…

"Warning, Cruise missiles incoming." Thunderhead alerted as soon as he picked up the missiles on the AWACS radar. "All units—"

"Those missiles are powerful, aren't they? More than usual, I mean." Talisman said slowly, feeling the dread in his stomach building.

"They're…yeah. Most definitely." Bishop said grimly. "All units, do not allow a single missile to hit Orb."

"Roger that." Bartlett replied. "Wardogs, setup for intercept, take them down far away from the mainland."

The five missiles split up.

"Shit." Bishop hit afterburners to chase down the left-most one.

Bartlett grimaced. "So much for that. Split and chase them down!"

…

"I got the first one." Bishop reported as he intercepted the first missile and strafed it with his guns, nicking off one of the wings and causing the missile to careen into the ocean.

"Fox two!" Blaze had a direct head-on vector with his target and launched a missile at it. "Target down, but no large explosion."

"I got him, I got him!" Chopper said as he...well. "Dammit, I didn't get him."

"_I_ got him." Antares cleans up after Chopper and damages the missile well enough for it to careen into the ocean as well.

Yellow 13 tracked down the fourth missile and sniped its engine block off with one well-placed round from his EML.

The last missile simply failed due to the massive amounts of jamming Thunderhead poured into it.

"Yeah! We got them all!" Chopper celebrated.

"But none of them had those warheads?" Bishop muttered. "That's…fortunate."

"Keep your eyes open." Bartlett said. "There's definitely more up their sleeve."

…

…

"So the Trinities were duds?" Azrael scratched his chin. "That seems implausible…hmm."

"Maybe, just maybe." An operator said hopefully. "Whoever launched those missiles aren't genocidal and stupid."

"Against Naturals, sure." Azrael muttered.

…

…

Five explosions tore the surface of the ocean apart.

"Whoa." Was the general consensus of all observing.

"All missiles have been intercepted." Thunderhead said with a relieved sigh. "Continue to engage the enemy forces present in the sector…wait a moment."

"Don't tell me there are more cruise missiles incoming." Chopper groaned. "Please, don't."

"No; incoming fire from Stonehenge and coastal bombardment from enemy ships, nothing unusual there." Sky Eye responded. "Enemy units are flowing to the central combat area…I think they're concentrating all forces on this area, all units stay sharp."

Bartlett didn't seem phased. "Really? That makes our jobs easier. We won't have to separate our forces on three fronts."

"It also makes us more susceptible to cruise missile attacks, so don't let your guard down." Thunderhead chided him.

"All allied units, the enemy forces are concentrating on sections 4-A to 6-A." Sky Eye said through a general frequency for the entire Orb battlefield. "Flow and assist as necessary."

…

…

The Feds were listening in.

"At least the missiles were stopped." The Belisarius captain sighed in relief. "Are we even in control of the AI units anymore?"

"They're received a command override, they're charging into the center line en masse." An operator responded. "They're not listening to our orders…though I'm not surprised."

"Bah, talk about horrid design." The captain grumbled. "Tell all ships under our command to hold fire until further orders."

"Sir?"

The captain grinned. "It would be unfortunate if we hit our own units, so let's not take that chance."

…

The decrease in shelling was not noticeable by the good guys.

"Looks like the flock is back." Bartlett grumbled as his threat warning grew loud again. "At least they're not coming after the AWACS anymore. Thunderhead, how are you holding up?"

"We're changing our flight patterns every so often…hope it works." Thunderhead responded. "We're fine otherwise."

"Good…looks like the other units are flowing in to the combat area as well." Blaze observed. "Think we have enough to push them to the ocean now?"

"Why did they come back though?" Talisman wondered, watching the swarm of Spearheads creep closer.

"They went back because of us." A new voice pitched in, belonging to an Astray hugging the ocean surface as it ran back to the Orb lines.

_This guy sounds familiar. _Bartlett thought. "New pilot, state your affiliations."

"Ustio Air Force, 66th Unit, 6th Air Division, Galm Team's number Two." Pixy reported. "Name's Pixy. Nice to meet all of you."

"Solo Wing?" Blaze's eyebrow went up.

"You got it." Pixy grinned. "Anyways, their AI went home to their ships because we were flying over their airspace and hitting their ships. I guess their defensive AI takes priority over their attack orders."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Bartlett said. "All units listen up, we're going to move the battlefield over the enemy ships and pin their forces there."

"Understood." (An operator in) Orb's main control room responded. "We'll pool all assets into this operation as well."

"About time we went on the offensive." Antares grinned savagely. "Let's do this!"

"We're gonna get hit by all of their units if we go over there though." Chopper pointed out. "Not to mention that Stonehenge will definitely shoot at us if we're that far from the cities."

"Good." A handful of the pilots responded.

"Just checking." Chopper sighed. "You guys are really gung-ho, you know that?"

"Thunderhead, can you alert Archangel? We could use some long range support." Blaze asked.

"We're hailing them now." Thunderhead replied.

"Got it." Bartlett aimed his aircraft towards the incoming Spearheads. "All units, we're going to break through the enemy and strike at their fleet directly. Don't get shot down."

…

The Orb media was fortunate enough to capture the incoming cloud of Federation Spearheads (accidentally sending the Orb populace into a minor panic) before seeing the comparatively much smaller air force flying straight into it.

…

"Wow, those guys are insane." The Belisarius Commander mumbled, watching the footage from Orb's media. "Who does that?"

"It…uh…" An operator said slowly as he watched the offending Orb fighters clear the Spearhead cloud. "Wow. They actually made it through?"

The Orb media was too far from the battle to see the fighters clearly (even with as much zoom as their cameras allowed) but it was possible to see the fighters involved as indistinct shapes.

"I think all of them did." The operator's neighbor said as he counted the fighters leaving the Spearhead cloud. "Yeah, I definitely think all of them made it through. They're coming for us, aren't they?" He asked unnecessarily.

"Why wouldn't they be? The Spearheads will fly back and leave Orb untouched if they do." Another operator grumbled. "Captain, your orders?"

"Prepare to intercept the enemy aircraft." The captain responded automatically. "Don't get overeager."

"I wish we had some flesh and blood pilots right about now." The first operator of this section sighed.

…

…

"Ok, I see the enemy ships." Bartlett reported. "All units prepare to attack. If you're out of ammo then return and rearm, otherwise do not stray from the enemy ship's anti-air coverage area.

"That sounds incredibly dangerous." Talisman remarked. "Roger."

"Roger, he says." Chopper shakes his head. "Seriously, how do you guys plan to do this?"

"Go in at maximum speed, fire weapons, run out unscathed. Easy." Talisman replies confidently.

"Heh." Bartlett leads the flight to the ocean surface. "All units, engage!"

…

The surprise factor of the flight of jets heading toward the enemy ships was great enough that the initial full strength strike of the Aces disabled eight Federation ships in one go.

The fighters then focused on engaging the Spearheads that had followed them.

The engagement did not go nearly as well as planned. While the Aces were able to fix the Federation units over the heads of the Fed warships, they were less successful in actually landing any kind of hit on said warships once the Spearheads joined in the fray. All of their attention was spent on avoiding enemy fire and the Spearheads buzzing around their units.

Even worse, a majority of the Daggers were ignoring the Aces entirely and were moving onwards towards Orb.

"Fortunately Orb's got their defensive line back, so we don't have to worry about that." Bartlett had said when Chopper brought up that little issue. "Focus on keeping the rest of them here and we'll be just fine."

"Your optimism is worrying." Antares growled. "The Spearheads are all over us."

Which was true; it became apparent to the Aces upon engagement that the AI controlling the Spearheads are much better when they have a numerical superiority, and are able to complement each other during combat. During one-on-one combat, the AIs exhibited something that could be considered tunnel vision, and would rarely change their tactics when they had a target in sight.

Now though? Now they're on even footing with the Aces, despite the inferior performance of the Spearheads.

Not to say that the Aces were losing, though. Spearheads were falling from the skies, but all of the X-02s and Shindens (and the two Astrays) were still alive and kicking. The Aces were following Talisman's lead, flying as a group and marauding over the skies of the Fed cruisers, never staying too long over one particular spot.

"Still, at this rate we're not going to last." Blaze noted. "I'm almost dry here."

Side effect to having everyone fly together: everyone runs out of fuel and ammo at approximately the same time together.

"This is Thunderhead." Bartlett heard. "It looks like the enemy Destroyers are tired of waiting."

There was a moment of silence as the implications of that statement sunk in.

"Shit. All units fall back—" Bishop started to say.

"Launches confirmed!" Thunderhead said over him. "Cruise missiles, inbound to Orb!"

"Damn! Intercept!" Bishop commanded.

"Looks like they got skittish when we hit them too hard." Cipher growled. "Take down the missiles before they get too far from the fleet! Thunderhead! We need enemy coordinates!"

"Thunderhead, Roger! Sending data!"

"What the…Cipher, look over there." Pixy said.

Cipher turned and looked down deeper into the enemy fleet.

…

"Do not let those missiles reach the shore!" The Captain of the Belisarius roared. "All ships intercept! Take those damned things down!"

The Belisarius and its escort ships were blanketing the sky with anti-aircraft fire, hoping to shoot down the Trinity missiles en route to the Orb coastline.

"Belisarius, cease fire at once." A direct line from high command (voice only) said. "You are interfering with Federation Operations."

"Shut it." The captain snarled. "I'm not going to sit and watch you kill millions of innocent people."

To puncture his point, one of the Trinity warheads was struck and fell into the ocean, mercifully unexploded.

"This is an act of treason, captain." High command warned. "You will be punished in accordance if you continue."

The captain's response was to terminate the line. "Order to all ships, we're moving out!"

"Captain!" An operator shouted as their ship was struck. "Other Federation ships are firing on us!"

…

"Anybody taking down the missiles is our friend." Cipher said quickly. "But focus on the missiles!"

"Roger!" Pixy followed Thunderhead's coordinates to the first batch of missiles and took down two of them with a volley of beam rifle fire. "Damn! It's out of range!"

"I'm on it!" Cipher cleaned up after Pixy.

"Good shot, boys!" Bartlett followed after the next set of missiles with a Spearhead on his tail. He ignored the Spearheads while they sprayed bullets in his direction.

"Captain!" Chopper and Blaze both chased after Bartlett to clear him of his chasers.

It wasn't successful. Bartlett was able to take down one of the two missiles and they ricocheted and collided with each other and careened into the ocean. Bartlett himself was also eventually hit by the bullets and crashed into the ocean as well.

"Captain!" Chopper said again as he and Blaze took down the Spearheads responsible for shooting Bartlett down. "Do you copy?!"

"Quit your yelling and stay focused!" Bartlett snapped. "I'm fine, now get moving!"

"Next wave in three positions, sending data!" Thunderhead reported. "Three sets of two missiles!"

"Got it! We're on it!" Antares, Bishop, and Yellow 13 split up to engage the cruise missiles.

Two of them were successful. Antares was unable to approach the third set of missiles, and they flew towards the Orb coastline…where they were intercepted by the Strike Gundam.

"We're here!" Kira declared. "And I won't let a single missile pass us by!"

…

[Federation High Command]

…

"We've fired sixteen missiles so far." One of the men tallied. "None of them hit because of the interceptions."

The Trinity missiles were launched in waves to ensure that they did not accidentally detonate over the heads of the Federation fleet.

"Override the launch protocols." The man with the biggest rank in the room snapped. "We can rebuild the fleet easily enough with the technology they have given us."

"But sir…"

"Do it."

…

[Orb]

…

"Oh…oh no." Thunderhead breathed.

"What's going on? Thunderhead!" Blaze demanded.

Thunderhead was never too good when it came to clutch situations, and he stayed silent for a brief second.

"Confirmed Trinity launch, twenty of them!" Sky Eye reported. "They're rising high over the ocean surface! Intercept!"

The previous missiles all flew at very low altitudes.

"Forty…" Kira breathed. "Archangel! Fire into the sky! Assist the interception!"

"Got it, Kira!" Murrue nodded. "Archangel, prepare to fire Lohengrin cannons!"

…

The world watched as the forty missiles flew towards Orb with a small group of jets chasing after them (with a larger group of jets chasing after _them_) and knew that this was a moment of truth for Orb.

One by one, the Trinity missiles fell to the dogged pursuit of the fighters, most of them falling to the ocean but some of them malfunctioning and detonated in the sky.

Upon seeing the first explosion, the Orb media moved to calming mode, as they realized (quite correctly) that seeing a cluster of missiles of such destructive power fly towards their homeland would cause panic. But the panic never came. Instead, the Orb citizens were hoping, praying, that the fighters chasing down the missiles would succeed…and believing in that hope.

Their hope would rise higher and higher every time a Trinity warhead fell from the sky, and then…

The last missile flew over the Orb coastline, and Kira intercepted it just in the nick of time. Damaged, the missile spiraled out of control and slammed into the ground, where its firing mechanism malfunctioned and detonated.

…

"Damn." Bishop growled. "Orb control, damage report."

Silence.

Bishop tried again. "Thunderhead, damage report."

"30% of the Defense force has been destroyed." Sky Eye responded. "The rest are moving to reform the line."

"Enemy Spearheads are also moving in. We think they're on attacking runs." Thunderhead added. "All aircraft, intercept."

"Not possible. Damn." Yellow 13 gritted his teeth. "We're out of ammo and need to resupply. We burned everything we have taking down those missiles."

"We still have our guns." Talisman growled. "That'll be enough." To make his point, Talisman pointed his aircraft towards the Spearheads flying towards the nearest Orb city and accelerated.

"Think it over, Talisman." Cipher warned. "If we keep this up we're going to be punching out in the ocean." Even though he said that, both he and Pixy were following Talisman towards the city.

Talisman wasn't going to budge. "Better than letting them bomb the city. Even if I die after taking them down, it'll be a job well done."

A new voice chided him. "It's not much of a victory if you die to get it, Talisman."

"Wait…where were you?" Blaze demanded as Talisman looked around in surprise.

"I above you. Look out below!" The same voice laughed.

Thunderhead was awestruck. "This…what…"

His stuttery question was answered when a CFA-144 Dracula dropped on top of the Spearheads and tore several of them open with quick bursts of its EML cannon.

"Ribbon…looks like you're finally airborne." Yellow 13 said with a slight smile.

Ribbon was a little bit grumpy. "This is the second time I got dragged away from taking down Stonehenge." He then shook his head. "Oh well. Advance forces, we're going to shoot these bastards down and then reform our formations. Orb units, take this time to return and rearm."

"Hey, we can fight too!" Cagalli retorted, taking to the skies with fresh batteries. "I need to beat some heads in for them trashing my island!"

"Mobius One, there are too many fighters for you to protect the city against. We'll assist until this group is destroyed." Blaze said. _Not too sure what we're going to do against the Daggers on the ground though._

"That won't be necessary." Ribbon turned on a dime to dive through the Spearheads again. "Nemo, you have permission to fire." He said as he exited the Spearhead swarm on the other side, leaving a trail of dead planes in his wake.

"Acknowledged." Nemo said. "Uplinking with Electrosphere."

Ribbon pulled the fighter's nose straight into the air, and two rows of small emitter points rose from the CFA-144's back, glowing faintly red.

"Omni-Directional Laser System, firing." Nemo declared.

The back of the CFA-144 erupted in sixteen red streaks of the tactical laser system, and with every burst of a laser beam a Spearhead's AI computer was hit and totaled, bringing the unfortunate and now uncontrolled aircraft into the ground.

…

Everyone watching the scene on TV just saw a sudden flurry of red beams before the sound of explosions and the sight of black smoke obscured everything else.

…

"Holy…" Pixy breathed. "What was _that?!_"

"ODLS." Nemo responded mechanically. "Recharging weapon. Next burst will be ready in 400 seconds."

"Now all of you, go tank." Ribbon smirked, levelling his aircraft once again. "We'll handle it from here."

"But…who's we?" Blaze looked around.

Thunderhead noted a set of blips on his radar. "Thunderhead to all Orb forces, there's a new group joining in the fight from the northwest…unknown aircraft, state your affiliations."

Talisman heard a familiar voice in response. "This is the Airborne Warning and Control System Ghost Eye. We're here as support from Usea."

"There are…more than a hundred planes with him." Thunderhead breathed. "All of them identified as CFA-44 Nosferatu Fighter Jets…but these IFFs…"

Talisman then grinned. "If we have this much, then we sure as hell aren't backing down. Let's sink the Fed fleet in one go."

"You haven't changed a bit, Talisman." A voice unknown to the other pilots laughed. "We're with you all the way."

"That voice…Windhover, is that you?" Talisman grinned.

"Hey, I'm here too, Talisman!" Another voice said indignantly. "Don't forget about the Sky Kid, yeah?"

"Friends of his?" Cipher wondered.

"They have Emmerian IFFs." Thunderhead replied. "They're allies…_our_, allies." He scanned the different insignias with growing awe. "All of them."

"All units, we don't have the time to chat." Cipher declared. "Ribbon might have taken down the first batch, but there are more incoming. Scramble and intercept!"

Some of the Nosferatus broke off from the pack to follow Cipher and Pixy.

"If the Demon Lord says so, then the Rot team will be happy to oblige."

"Crow team, roger. We're moving in to attack."

"Wizard team, Sorcerer team, engage the Spearheads. Show them just who rules the skies."

"It's a goddamn family reunion." Bartlett (who retrieved a spare X-02 stashed in the forward airfield in case they needed new units) said.

"It's not just him, you know." Bartlett heard.

"Hey, pops. We missed you." Blaze replied to the voice with a smile. "You're actually a combat pilot?"

"Yeah." The man known as pops replied.

"Heh. Just like old times, huh?" Bartlett glanced at the Nosferatu that glided down to fly next to him. "Heartbreak One, engaging!"

"Well, maybe not exactly like old times." Pops chuckled. "Heartbreak two, I'm going in."

"Even the Huckebein is joining in on the fight." Blaze heard someone say. "Ofnir, follow his lead!"

"Grabacr, the same. We will not tarnish the memory of Belka by falling behind!" (Pronounced "gra-back").

"I think I recognize those guys from somewhere." Chopper muttered.

But Blaze was distracted by another voice. "Captain, Blaze. Sorry we're late."

A pair of CFA-44s dropped to flank Blaze.

"Nagase. You're still alive and kicking, I see!" Bartlett laughed.

"Yeah. Usea's been good to us." Nagase replied. "We're ready to fly with you again, Blaze."

"Number one, why just Blaze?" Chopper demanded. "And number two-"

"Captain Chopper, please don't push the subject." A young man's voice cut across him. "This is Archer, I'm glad to see you."

"Well, that's all nice and well, but…" Chopper grumbled.

"Looks like we're back together too, huh?" Blaze shook his head. "Someone's playing us for fools." He breathed to himself. _It's_ _too much of a coincidence to have all these Aces gathered here, of all places._

Indeed, the presence of over a hundred of the best aircraft Usea has to offer mixed with the best pilots Usea had to offer meant that whatever advantages the Federation had in this battle were completely gone. In no time at all, the Nosferatus went through the Spearheads and Daggers like a woodchipper and pushed the Federation forces straight back to their ships.

The SEED people helped too, I guess. They were useful in taking down the Daggers but for the most part the EMLs of the Nosferatus (especially fired in large quantities) were more than enough for taking down all the units the Federation had to offer.

"Looks like there's just the enemy fleet left." Sky Eye remarked. "What's left of their air cover is in shambles right now."

"Then we're hitting them right here, right now." Talisman declared. "All units, form up and follow me! We're sinking every last one of these bastards!"

Talisman's special trait was his ability to rally his allies for either offense or defense. Through some unknown element, he is able to inspire his allies to greatly improved combat performance through his actions and his words…and he has no qualms about using his abilities right now.

Combine that with the forces currently in the combat theatre…and it's a very bad day for the Feds.

"Avalanche, roger. Engaging!"

"Schnee team, we copy. Commencing long range attack."

"Omega squadron, roger…we'll strike at them from above."

"I'm on your wing, Garuda One." Talisman heard. "Garuda Two, Shamrock, engaging!"

…

"Warwolf One, Warwolf One." Bishop heard. "Did you miss me?"

Bishop smiled slightly. "Not at all, Guts."

"What? Aw, c'mon. I even went across the world to get you!" Guts said happily. "It's good to see you, Colonel."

"Good to have you here, Guts." Bishop nodded. "Let's do this!"

"Warwolf two, roger! Geronimo!"

…

The Federation high command, at the end of the day, could do no more than just watch as the cloud of unknown fighters chew through their ships like locusts.

The general mood among the Federation command: glum.

It didn't improve as the President of Usea declared unilateral war against what's left of the Federation in response for their 'inexcusable' use of a weapon of mass destruction.

Nobody said it, but everyone knew: by the end of the month, The Atlantic Federation would be no more.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes:

Wow this one went long.

_It's long and very Aces centric…but then we're pretty Aces centric to begin with, so…_


	23. Stage 20 - Changing World

{ === + === }

Following the battle for Orb, all aircraft belonging to the Usean task force were asked to land at Morgenroete.

"Look, there's another insignia I don't recognize." Chopper muttered as another squadron of aircraft landed upon the Morgenroete airstrip. "Who are those guys?"

"That looks like the Wizard Squadron." Cipher replied, peering at the tails on the planes. "Right before them was Sorcerer, too…participants in the Belkan war."

"I guess I shouldn't be that surprised given that you're here, but still." Blaze muttered.

"And before that we had Rot from Belka and Windhover from Emmeria." Talisman added. "I find it hard to believe that the new Usea had all these aces just lying around to throw at the problem."

"Strictly speaking, they didn't." Bartlett said. "I heard from Pops: apparently the Usean air force sent to assist Orb got tangled up with a Federation detachment and it devolved into a barfight before they could reach Orb waters. All these aces gathered because of you guys." He points to Cipher and Ribbon in particular.

"They came just to help us?" Ribbon wondered.

_Well, I don't think most of them are that charitable. _Bartlett thought.

"Aww, no love for the rest of us?" Blaze groaned.

"Sorry, but compared to the Demon Lord and the Grim Reaper you guys are small fry." Barlett grinned.

"Still, where did they all come from? Why did they all come here?" Talisman wondered.

…

"Boy's got a point." Bartlett said to Pops some time later. "Seems to be a bit too much of a coincidence just to have all of us from history come together in one place."

"You got that right." The balding, friendly man named Pops replied. "I wondered about all of this as well…what could cause our timeline to be so conjoined together?"

"I don't really think that's what Talisman was asking, but now that you brought it up…" Bartlett said, watching four members of the Schwarze squadron (all eight had died in the Belkan war) walk past him, talking and joking with each other. "Fate has to have something huge planned for us if they're bringing all of the aces from our world here…even across different timelines."

"To be fair," Pops reminded him. "I don't think we have any prior cases of people shuttled across dimensions to compare to."

Bartlett chuckled. "Yeah, good point."

The two sat and watched a pair of X-02s take off into the skies. They watched as the two fighters rise high before separating away from each other…and then suddenly turning to face each other again.

"Who do you think is up there?" Pops idly asked.

"Let's see…" Bartlett watched as one of the X-02s quickly found the tail of the other one and stuck on like a snapping turtle. "Judging by that flying, it's Cipher versus…" The losing X-02 tried a barrel roll, but Cipher's X-02 stayed on its tail without fail. "…Hamilton?"

"Really?" Pops didn't take his eyes off of Cipher's plane, even as Hamilton's plane tried a series of sharp turns and drops to lose the Demon Lord on his tail. "Is he ours?"

"Judging by his flying, it's Hamilton from Osea…man, fifteen years later and he still sucks in a dogfight." Bartlett shakes his head as Hamilton's X-02 'loses' the bout via Cipher staying on his tail too long. "I still can't believe most of them joined a war just so they can dogfight the two biggest aces in our history one on one."

"Makes the two of us." Pops laughed. "Though I have to admit, I'm one of those guys, too."

"Want some tips?" Bartlett offered with a grin. "Both of them are pretty damn good."

"If the 'Demon Lord' that shot both of us down isn't pretty damn good I'd be very, very angry at…well, somebody." Pops laughed.

"What was Usea thinking, though?" Barlett suddenly wondered. "Orb's too far out for a mission to raise public awareness."

"Now, this is hearsay." Pops started to say, "But…"

…

[ZAFT Space]

…

A squad of GINNs was on routine patrol, keeping an eye out on the Artemis Space Station.

Suddenly, the threat sensors on the lead GINN goes off, and the four of them raise their guns against the unknown threat.

Said threat turned out to be a Mobius mobile armor.

"What's a small fry doing so far away from its nest?" One of the GINN squaddies wondered, not lowering his gun. "Don't they usually work in massive waves?"

"Careful." His friend warned. "You're gonna jinx us, talking like that. Captain, what should we do?"

"Artemis is aware we're here." The captain said…heat signatures in the coldness of space were difficult to mask in even the best circumstances. "So if they were interested in taking us out, they'd be using something much more substantial. Spread out and kill it; we'll drag its corpse home for examination later."

"Aye, boss." The (token?) girl of the squad acknowledged. "I'll go under it."

The four of them surround the lone Mobius craft.

"Taking the shot." The captain declared, and fired a round from his anti-material rifle/badly named bazooka.

The Mobius craft takes the shot head on.

"What the hell…?" The first squaddie scowled as the Mobius seemed to take no damage. "Is it armored?"

"PS armor wouldn't save it from everything." The second squaddie raised his gun. "Let me at 'em."

Right as he squeezed the trigger, the Mobius craft turned to face him with ungodly agility and fired a round directly through his cockpit.

"Gale! Shit!" The captain sprayed his machine gun towards the Mobius craft as it came to life, darting around with speed and precision that meant it was controlled by an AI…and a highly advanced one at that. "Cover each other! Dying to a goddamned Mobius isn't funny!"

Despite their best efforts, the three remaining GINNs fell quickly to the Unknown Mobius craft. It 'looked' at the carnage it left behind, before turning away from both the dead GINNs and Artemis and zooming off.

…

[Some time later]

…

"Wow. What the hell happened here?" Dearka mutters, sifting through the battlezone in his Buster Gundam. "The damage to these GINNs doesn't look like they were caused by Fed equipment, Athrun."

"So I see." Athrun, in the Aegis, agreed. "But how can you tell? They're all in pieces."

"Yeah, but they're not in the pieces that I think they should be." Dearka replied. "Also, screw you, Athrun."

Athrun suppressed a chuckle. "Yeah, yeah…no scorch marks at all?"

"None." Dearka continued his examination. "Whatever hit these guys did it with something either very precise or very powerful."

"Don't mean to interrupt the party," Yzak interrupts in his GuAIZ. "We got a heat signature coming for us at high speed."

"From Artemis?" Athrun checked his radar and moved to put himself between the unknown and Dearka. "No…apparently not. What could possibly move this fast?"

"Hey, wait a minute." Dearka suddenly noted. "I recognize this cross-section…it's the Strike."

_But Kira's on Earth. _Athrun wanted to say. "The Strike's on Earth. The battle for Orb was just yesterday, there's no way he can get all the way out here in-"

"Incoming!" Yzak interrupted, and the three of them spread out to avoid the streaks of green beams headed their way.

"His shooting could use more work." Dearka lined his rifle up with the projected approach of the unknown Strike. "Let's see how you like this!" He pulled the trigger.

His beam rifle shot zipped right past the Strike.

"Looks like your shooting could use some work too." Athrun took some pot shots at the Strike (with no hits).

"Ah, shaddap." Dearka grumbled. "I'll get him when he's in visual range."

"Well he's coming into visual range real quick now…whoa!" Yzak felt the impact of the beam that struck his shield. "He just got real accurate all of a sudden."

"Here he comes!" Athrun warns and activates the beam sabers in the Aegis's wrists.

The unknown Strike slams into Athrun with its beam saber and takes the Aegis's left arm off with the impact before zipping away again.

"Did you see the coloring on that thing?" Yzak said as he fired (unsuccessfully) after the Strike.

"It was entirely red. Even the eyes." Dearka followed the Strike with his radar as it turned in a massive circle for a second strike. "It's not controlled by a human, then?"

"What gives you" Athrun cuts himself off as he dives to avoid another near-suicidal rushing attack by the Strike. "that idea?"

"Its main cameras are painted over." Dearka fires a shot at the Strike and grimaces as the Strike simply bats it away. "I don't believe it can move like that with just instruments."

"It's using a lot of hit and run tactics." Yzak observed. "I can believe that it's running on just…yeesh. Instruments." He had to accelerate hard to avoid a stream of bullets from the Strike. "Athrun, what's your call? This guy's flying circles around us."

_We can't retreat to the Eternal, because we might drag…whatever this guy is, with us. _Athrun thought quickly. _But if this keeps up we're going to end up just like the GINNs here. _He frowned. "Alright, we're pulling out. Full speed back into the junk ring, but don't head back to base just yet."

"Not gonna pull the boss back home, that's for sure." Dearka nods approvingly. "Let's—yow!" The Buster suffered a hit to its leg. "Alright, you little…" He fired missiles after the Strike. "I don't know who's in that thing, but the next time we meet I'm taking his head off."

In their retreat, the three ZAFT boys did not see the red Strike be joined by three more just like it. The quad of red Strike Gundams quickly collected the scraps of the dead GINN mobile suits and retreated from the area.

…

[Earth]

…

"Hey Ribbon, do you—"

"No."

Blaze couldn't help but grin. "It's gotten that bad?"

"Thirty dogfights yesterday. I'm tired." Ribbon groaned into the couch he commandeered. "Fame and fortune can suck it. Just let me sleep."

_Thirty? It was way more than thirty. _Blaze thought. _He won them all, too. _"Who was your favorite?"

"Pixy." Ribbon replied (still into the couch). "He at least made the damn fight fun."

"Huh. Least favorite?"

"All of them! Now shut up and let me sleep."

"Cipher's fine." Blaze gestured to Cipher, who was observing Ribbon while sipping on a gallon of coffee.

"Well Cipher can do what Cipher wants." Ribbon grumbled. "Ribbon here's gonna do what Ribbon wants."

"Hilarious. Now get up, we have a briefing to attend." Cipher patted Ribbon on the head. "Usea just gave all of its pilots a mission and we're getting paid to play along."

Ribbon sighed heavily and pulled himself up to his feet. "I feel like I really should've just used the Dracula yesterday. Would've solved a lot of problems."

"Where is the Dracula, anyways?" Blaze asked, as he didn't see the CFA-144 on the tarmac.

"The guys at Gründer have a special hangar for it. They're tuning it and getting data from it at the same time." Ribbon yawned. "Got one for me, Cipher?"

…

[Archangel, Some time later]

…

"They're doing what now?" Sai clarified, as he thought he misheard.

Miriallia rolled her eyes. "The Usean air force is going to stage an all-out attack across the entirety of the Federation's remaining territories of the Americas. They plan to behead the Feds in one swing."

"Wow. I'm pretty sure the can do it, too." Tolle marveled. "Based on what Talisman said, all of the pilots gathered here are aces…pretty good aces, too."

Under the requirement of being an ace after getting five kills, Tolle was now an ace several times over, and he knew he was the least experienced pilot on the entire Morgenroete complex.

_The boy's selling himself short a little bit._

"So…what do they want us to do about it?" Sai leaned back, scanning the lounge they were in and finding nobody else. "They're not gonna force the Archangel to tag along, are they?"

"If they do, I'm leaving." Miriallia shrugged. "I like Usea and all and I think they'll make better leaders than the Feds, but…y'know." She didn't quite finish her thought.

Sai could get what she meant, though. "Yeah." All of them joined the Archangel for safety, and now that the safety is evident through the efforts of the Usean military, there isn't pressure for them to stay aboard the ship anymore.

"What will you do, Kira?" Tolle asks him.

"Uh…" Kira scratches his head. "I don't feel like dancing to their tune. The Strike's attached to the Archangel, so if we have to go we will, but…"

"No point risking our necks just because we changed sides?" Sai chuckled. "I hear ya."

Tolle looked unsure. "That being said though…the Archangel's definitely a powerful ship, and we still have the Coo…uh, ZAFT, to deal with." He glanced an apology at Kira, who didn't mind. "Just because we've crushed the Feds doesn't mean the war is over."

"I have an idea." Lowe chipped in (showing himself after eavesdropping during the middle of the conversation). "We can go to space!"

"Uh…" _Was he right outside our door? _Kira thought.

"I believe what mister Lowe is trying to say…" Nicol amended, peeking from the doorframe. "is that the Archangel and its crew would better serve its interests by going to space and keeping ZAFT under check."

"Are you ok with that though?" Miriallia asked him. "I mean, ZAFT is your homeland."

"It is. I don't look forward to fighting it." Nicol nodded grimly. "But with the current situation in PLANT, it might not be an option."

Kira perked up. "What kind of situation?"

"It's mostly rumors for now." Murakumo Gai, on his way to fetch Lowe, said. "According to my sources, PLANT's chairman has been acting oddly for a while."

"Yo, Gai." Lowe greets him.

"Your Professor wants a word with you…she didn't seem too happy about something." Gai said tersely.

Lowe makes an 'I'm so dead' expression before slinking out of the room.

"Weird? Like…how weird can he get, given that he's trying to wipe out everybody on Earth?" Sai frowned. "Is he suddenly going in the opposite direction or something?"

"In a sense, yes." Gai replied. "Patrick Zala, who up until recently has been very vocal and very visible, suddenly isn't."

"And nobody noticed this?" Kira raised an eyebrow. _Someone famous like the chairman of PLANT would have a hard time disappearing._

"Nobody noticed it because as far as everyone's concerned, nothing out of the ordinary happened." Gai nodded. "I know what you're thinking. My sources are implying that the reason why nobody has noticed is because someone's acting as Patrick's puppeteer."

"But…" Miriallia mutters, before looking up at everyone involved. "If he's not out of the ordinary, then how are your sources so sure?"

"They're not. It's just a theory at the moment." Gai responded. "Our only leads so far are the somewhat odd military movements of ZAFT...especially when one of their latest warships went missing."

"Actually, supposedly the chairman's son is gone, too." Cagalli joins the conversation. "He went into the debris belt and never came back out."

_So someone's hiding in the debris belt. _Everyone in the room said.

"Hi, Cagalli. Do you need us for something?" Kira asked politely.

"Uh…yeah. Dad wants to talk to you." Cagalli gestured towards Kira's general direction.

…

…

…

Following the battle for Orb, Usea enacted an all-out attack upon the Federation territories of America with the full intention of crushing every military base the Feds had, with their forces divided into four main avenues of attack, and each avenue aided and assisted by a handful of aces to both help bolster morale and to deter (read: utterly dominate) any attempt on the Federation to hold airspace.

Naturally, the four aces and their respective squadronmates split up and went with each path.

_There are more, but there's too many to list._

The Galm team, comprised of Cipher, Pixy, and PJ went with the first avenue, fighting in the Territory of Canada.

The Wardog squadron, comprised of Blaze, Edge, Chopper, and Archer, went with the second avenue, where they escorted Usean mobile suits from the western coast of North America straight to the other side.

The Garuda team, of Talisman and Shamrock, went with the third avenue, sinking ships like there's no tomorrow around the coasts of Central America.

Lastly, the Mobius and Yellow squadrons (with just the two of them, Mobius 1 and Yellow 13) attached themselves to the force attacking South America.

The subjugation operation would last for two weeks, where the increasingly unpopular Federation military (due in no small part to a massive smear campaign by Usea) were either destroyed or, more commonly, simply surrendered to the invading forces.

There wasn't much of a fight, just a curbstomping.

…

The Archangel, on the other hand, was asked to go to space (which they readily agreed) along with an escort of two Kusanagi-class cruisers, of Orb design.

Their mission: to find the ship that sent them a coded message.

"Do we get to know what's actually inside the message?" Kira had asked.

"Nope, we're the grunts." Mu had denied happily. "Let the higher ups worry about the logistics."

Kira was not convinced, but figured it was fine.

Not like there would be anything more dangerous than ZAFT in space anyways.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes:

This story would benefit if I planned things out more.


	24. Stage 21 - ZOE

{ === + === }

The Archangel (along with two support ships) was sent into space to find a ship that sent them a coded message. When it reached the debris belt, it saw an interesting sight.

Namely, a pair of Mobius Zero crafts with twice the Gunbarrel loadout that they're supposed to have.

"You think they're friends of ours?" Mu asks Kira, when the two of them saw the uniformly red coloring of both aircrafts."

"Not likely." Kira mutters. "Those things give me the creeps."

"Yep." Mu agrees. "Captain, we should probably avoid them; they don't look like they're doing anything dangerous."

"Though I agree…" Murrue sighs. "I don't want to run the risk of having them be our enemies."

"Or we'll have something dangerous on our backs." Mu agrees. "Alright, you all heard the lady. Let's get out there." Mu had switched to an M1 Astray, customized by the Belkan Engineers to work with the Gunbarrels system from the Mobius Zero. "Mark Zero, launching!"

_It looks suspiciously similar to the Dreadnaught Gundam with the DRAGOON system attached._

"I feel like you're taking her side too easily." Kira sighs. "Aile Strike, going."

"The captain's right, Kira." Tolle reminds him. "Imagine if those guys are enemies… Astray, deploying."

_He has a vanilla M1 Astray._

The three units (with Mu's Astray leading the arrowhead) accelerate towards the two Mobius Zeroes hanging around the edge of the debris, seemingly not paying attention to them.

Tolle managed to take a picture of the Zeros' cockpit sections. "Whoa, take a look at this." He sent the image onto the Archangel's network.

The cockpit had a series of neatly arrayed glowing dots on it.

"Weird." Kira murmurs. "Should we shoot them down now? Or just investigate?"

The Archangel's threat response system then beeped a response, getting the attention of its operator.

"Captain, there's a ZAFT warship signal within detection range." Sai reports. "It seems to be moving in our direction."

The Archangel's infrared detectors worked best in outer space, and thus picked up that ship from far beyond their engagement range. Murrue thought this over a bit. "Make contact with the unknowns. If they're friendly we'll leave them be. If not, we'll knock them down and go into the belt at full speed."

"Roger that." Mu replies, opening up all frequencies. "This is the…" He pauses for a second. Allegiance changes are a bit weird on protocols. "Orb Allied Forces. Unknown spacecraft, please state your affiliations."

No response.

"Seriously? Not even with the Belka-given frequencies?" Mu mutters, and tries again.

Kira idly flips through some channels on his radio. "Nothing, Mu. Either they don't speak our language or there's nobody in those crafts."

"Automated Zeroes?" Mu overacts his groan. "What about my reputation?"

"You had a reputation?" Kira and Tolle poke him simultaneously.

"Thanks, you two. Appreciate it." Mu grumbles and sighs. "If it's automated, then we shouldn't be too worried about it."

The Zeroes, however, were more than willing to prove them wrong.

"Whoa, weapon power up." Tolle reported as the engines of the two unknown crafts suddenly came to life. "Hang on. I'm getting an IFF response…"

"Same here." Kira frowned as he saw the name displayed on the screen. "ZOE? That's a weird name."

"It's from the Belkan datafiles, most likely." Mu replies. "Look sharp! They're coming in!"

The two Zeroes had climbed up high and dove onto the allied units with all of their guns blazing, forcing the three allied units to separate.

"Just me?" Kira groans as the Zeroes home in on his Strike. "Fine then, be that way." Kira counter-accelerates at the Zeroes and open fire with his head mounted Vulcans against the barrage of fire from the Zeroes.

Due to the Strike's Phase Shift Armor, its path through the hail of bullets was much safer than the Zeroes' were…though he didn't clock too much damage upon the smaller, more agile spacecraft either.

"Gotcha." Kira said as he turned his Strike without arresting its speed, and fired two shots from his beam rifle at the Zero cockpits, striking them dead center and killing both crafts even as the two crafts started to deploy their Gunbarrels.

"Ok, let's recover them for analysis and get going." Mu said after he recovered from his surprise. "Your aim is getting really up there, Kira."

"If I can hit it, I can kill it…or spare it." Kira replies confidently. "If I want to stop people from dying in a fight, then I need to be good enough to make them stop."

"Hear hear." Mu laughs. "At this rate you'll be better than those Aces in no time."

…

The two Zero corpses were recovered, and the Archangel proceeded to enter the debris belt at a slow speed (to avoid turning itself into a massive heat spot on someone else's infrared systems).

"So, what's so interesting about this guy?" Mu asks Murdoch as the head engineer removes himself from the belly of the mechanical beast.

"You got me. I don't recognize these designs at all." Murdoch sighs. "I'd thought they'd be at least similar to the Belkan engineers, but whoever made this one is on a fundamentally different level."

"Really?" Mu frowns, a little bit worried.

"Yeah…kid can probably tell you more about it." Murdoch wipes his face with a rag and go back under.

"Kid?" Mu looks up. Kira was tooling around in the cockpit section he blew up. "Oy, Kira! What discoveries are you discovering up there?" Without really bothering to wait for a response, Mu floated up to the cockpit to see…then came to a realization. _This Zero is a bit bigger than the ones we use. _He wasn't sure if the realization meant anything though.

"Check this out." Kira said as Mu came to a stop next to him. "I've rigged some of the electronics to this" he gestures to a small screen. "So we can read some of the data that's inside it."

"Find anything good?" Mu pokes the small screen a bit, seeing nothing but random numbers and letters.

"Not especially." Kira sighs. "It was apparently never designed to be maintained by humans, as there is no simple way of accessing its programming…not even the most basic of console codes." He scratches his head. "As far as I can tell this thing is definitely made to be thrown away."

"Seriously? Who's got the money to do that?" Mu pokes the screen some more. "There's no pattern to these letters, are there?"

"There might be." Kira hits a series of buttons on his smaller screen and a flurry of garbage shows up. "Occasionally I'll see the ZOE letters show up, but…" He gestures in defeat to the garbage on the screen. "That."

_So we've established that this thing is a ZOE? What does that even mean? _Mu wondered.

"Hey boys, come check this out." Murdoch says from underneath the aircraft, and the two pilots oblige.

Murdoch was looking at what seemed to be production data or the like engraved onto the underbelly of the craft. It was a series of numbers and what appeared to be the name of the spacecraft.

"'Zone of Endless'." Kira read out the name. "I feel like whoever named this thing needs an English lesson."

"No kidding. So these are both ZOE crafts?" Mu went to check on the other one. "Hey, this one says Zone of Endlesser."

"And gullible's written on its top." Kira replies.

"Seriously?" Mu went to check. "Oh wow, it really is."

"What?" Kira went to check as well, and there were no words written.

Mu simply had a self-satisfied grin…which turned into caution. The top of the aircraft had a set of tiny lights arranged in a hexagonal pattern, and they were still blinking irregularly.

"Murdoch," Mu said with the voice of someone giving command. "Jam all communications within this hangar space."

…

…

The two Zeroes were scrapped a short while later, and Murdoch (along with Mu and Kira) went to report their findings.

"It was still transferring data even after it was shot down…" Murrue repeated. "Was anything compromised?"

"Hard to tell; ZOE's built like a coffin." Murdoch grumpily replies. "Hell, I don't even know if it has any cameras inside that thing."

Miriallia played with her instruments a little. "There's been no sign of tampering on our intranet." She reports.

"At least it didn't get onto the ship." Murrue sighs. "Save anything interesting you found and jettison the rest." She commands.

"Gladly." Murdoch grins.

All of them miss the small spikes of activity on the intranet system…and who could blame them? That activity could've been anything.

…

Several hours later, while the Archangel and its two escort ships were still searching through the debris belt, one of the escorting Kusanagi cruisers suddenly picked up a distress signal and repeated it to the Archangel.

"Any allied units, we request immediate assistance." The female voice said. "Our ship has been attacked and is stranded at the following coordinates." It then repeated a set of three numbers. "If you can hear this message, please assist us."

Murrue muted it before it played again. "What do you think?" She asks her bridge.

"Probably a trick." Sai said immediately. "Nobody's that calm when rattling off a long set of numbers."

"Those numbers are functionally meaningless, too." Tolle agreed. "She didn't give us a point of reference."

Navigating in space required points of references otherwise the numbers involved becomes astronomically huge…and useless.

"Well, by default a ship's navigation assumes the point of reference is closest major locale." Natarle replies. "For us, that would be…"

"Junius Seven." Murrue answers uncomfortably. "Plug in the numbers, and see what we get."

So they do, and a large map of the area is displayed on the main screen of the bridge. On the map was a circle denoting the area they needed to search (as the person did not include a compass direction).

"We're over here." The navigation officer said, gesturing to a spot just outside of the search radius on the map. "We can probably go through the entire search area within five hours."

"That's an oddly long amount of time." Sai notes.

"Blazing through a belt of dangerous debris isn't exactly a thing we want to do carelessly…unless you feel like doing two passes." Neuman (helmsman) replies. "Besides, if whatever attacked the ship is still around, we don't want to run into it without preparations."

…

In the end, it was agreed that the three ships would alternate between active and passive status to preserve its pilot stamina as they went to do the searching, as the large amount of debris made searches and scans from the ship problematic.

"So how did they get the message onto our ships?" Tolle had asked.

"It was a prerecorded message from a small transponder." Was the explanation. "Apparently the ship that sent it sent a lot of those little things out. We just happened to find one."

In short, the crew was on a rescue mission of a ship that was simply in danger, as opposed to looking for the ship that sent them the signal, and everyone just crossed their fingers and prayed really hard that the two are one and the same.

…

After two hours of scouring the designated areas for signs of the ship, they found it.

Or, more accurately, they found a pink behemoth of a ship hiding in an overly dense section of the debris field.

"That's an incredibly eye-catching color for a warship." Mu said diplomatically, as he and the entirety of the mobile suit squadrons from all three ships converged upon the ship.

"That's an incredibly polite way of putting it." Kira mutters. "It is what we're looking for, right?"

A hail (on an open frequency) from the ship interrupted him. "Is that you, Kira?"

Kira's heard that voice before. "Athrun? Are you on that ship?"

"As circumstances would have it." Athrun replies. "This is the Eternal…but what are all of you doing here?"

"We're here to search for a ship that's been emitting a rescue signal." Murrue said. "Judging by your reaction, that wasn't you guys."

The Eternal was silent for a moment.

"This is Captain Andrew Waltfield: We sent a coded message to Orb." Waltfield replied. "But we never tried hailing for a rescue; this ship is still in operational status."

"So who sent those messages?" Kira wondered, looking around with his Strike and drawing his rifle.

"More importantly, were the messages friendly to begin with?" Mu mutters.

Murrue mulls it over for a minute. "All ships assume battle stations. Give full power to our detector systems; if they're around here, we'll find them. Eternal, what are your plans?"

"Given that our hiding spot is compromised, we'll escape into open space." Waltfield replied. "We can think about what to do next later."

"Acknowledged, we'll escort you out." Murrue responded.

"Isn't there an Orb port in space somewhere?" Kira asks over a private network.

"Heliopolis was the only overtly friendly one, the rest of the stages are a bit of a toss-up right now." Mu answers. "Not sure if Usea has any that we should know about either…"

The four ships form up into a triangle formation (with the Eternal in the center) and sail out into the open space.

Upon reaching the edge of the debris belt, however, they received what they were expecting.

"Contacts!" Sai reports as the threat radar warbles. "What the hell…?" He breathes in surprise.

"What is it?" Murrue demands.

Sai grits his teeth. "Contacts are four Strike Gundams!"

The four Strikes were painted in a uniform blood red and were accelerating towards the allied ships.

"Yeah, I see them." Kira replies, feeling a little put off by the fact that the face plates of the red Strikes—normally a face—is replaced with a blank slate with seven glowing dots arranged in a hexagonal pattern. "Bet you anything they're more of those ZOE units."

"How many are there and who's producing them?" Mu wonders. "The Federation?"

"Or someone using the Federation." Murrue replies. "All units engage, take them down."

"We should get away from here." Waltfield advises instead. "We've tussled with those things before. They're miles ahead of anything we've faced so far."

"Roger that." Mu replies. "We'll be careful." He then fires three shots at the leading Strike.

It responds by jetting itself downwards, causing Mu's attacks to sail harmlessly over its head. It then responded further by returning the same three shots at Mu.

Mu dodged them with comparatively less grace than the ZOE Strike. "Alright, it's no pushover; all units break off and engage the enemy units, gang up on them and don't let them support each other." He orders.

"Understood." Kira charges forward and engages one of the ZOE Strikes in saber to saber combat.

Surprisingly, the other ZOE Strikes immediately disengage and fan out further.

"Are they luring us?" Mu mutters. "Don't chase them out too far, it could be a trap."

"Not like we can try with how slow Astrays are." Tolle grumbles, firing at a ZOE Strike with no real effect.

…

[Unknown Location]

…

"ZOE Captain Unit 2 has made contact with the Super Coordinator." A robotic female voice reports tonelessly. "It is proceeding with the data collection. Captain Units 1, 3 and 4 are awaiting alternative directives."

"Commence data collection." A robotic male voice commands in an equally flat voice. "This is a prime opportunity."

"The ZOE Captains are currently engaged in battle." The female voice reminds him.

"Our objective is the collection of data." The male voice replies. "Taking damage is negligible."

"Acknowledged; deploying additional ZOE units."

…

[Archangel]

…

"What the hell?" Mu scowls as the three ZOE Strikes suddenly turn as one towards Kira and accelerate towards him with their beam sabers active. "Kira! Watch your back!"

"What? Shit." Kira breaks off his duel with his target with a kick and fires two shots from his beam rifle into its torso.

The hexagonal pattern on all four ZOE Strikes glow momentarily.

"They're all going for him?!" Tolle snarls. "All units open fire! Give Kira cover!"

The three ZOE Strikes have already reached Kira, and thus supporting fire was more problematic than helpful.

_What's with these guys? _Kira thinks as he dodges a lunge from one of the ZOEs. _It's like they're trying to get killed._

Kira's reply to the lunge was a shot to the back of the attacking unit.

To his surprise, however, the ZOE turned and intercepted the shot with its shield.

He didn't have much time to think on it however, as his alarms were going off about another unit at his back.

Kira spun rapidly with his beam saber and swats another ZOE that was lunging at his back. This time, he didn't arrest his rotation to stop, but instead accelerated into the spin and cut into the ZOE's armor with three very fast but very light hits.

The two other ZOE units open fire with his beam rifles at Kira's Strike as Kira regains control and accelerates out of the way, giving the breathing room needed for the rest of the Astrays on approach to blanket the ZOE units with fire.

The ZOE units, in response, begin systematically dispatching the Astrays with extremely precise firing even as they erratically dodged incoming fire.

"All of you back off and leave them to me!" Kira says quickly and desperately when half of the Astrays were wiped out.

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice. Damn." Tolle withdrew, his Astray having suffered a hit that destroyed its beam rifle and arm. "Watch yourself, buddy."

Kira's response was to slam into a ZOE Strike with his shield and then impale its head with his beam saber.

He then felt his Strike shudder as it sustained a hit on the Aile's booster engines. He jettisons the Aile pack, as it was now no longer useful.

"It feels like they're improving." Mu breathes.

"They're sharing and receiving a large amount of data." Miriallia notes. "So it's entirely possible that they're learning from each other."

Kira heard it, and was not exactly pleased by that revelation. _So they're here to gather data on me?_

Kira focused upon the thought of victory and went into SEED mode. _Then gather as much as you want, you bastards._

Two more ZOE Strikes remain, and they backed off from the Strike while firing at it with their beam rifles.

Kira grabbed the remains of the Aile Strike pack and tossed it like a boomerang at one of the ZOE Strikes. The ZOE unit, in response, peppered it with its head mounted Vulcans and destroyed it.

_Then there was a minor cry of anguish from the Archangel's hangars, but nobody heard it, so…_

Kira charged through the scraps that used to be the Strike pack with his two beam sabers active, and tear into the ZOE, chopping it up into its component pieces.

The second ZOE activates its two beam sabers in mimicry of Kira's tactics and charges forward. Kira's response was to sheath one of his sabers and patiently wait.

The ZOE unit charged at full speed, allowing Kira to dodge it by dropping downwards at the last moment. As the ZOE missed and moved to turn, Kira shot it unceremoniously in the torso, and the now uncontrolled ZOE Strike sailed straight into the debris belt.

"To be honest, I expected more out of them." Kira said confidently. "They don't seem to be nearly as dangerous as you say they were."

"Maybe this batch was defective?" Athrun replies after letting out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "The one we met was zooming all over the place."

"Yeah. Compared to him these guys were just sitting there and taking it." Yzak agrees. "Are there more of them on radar?"

"No…yes!" The Eternal's radar operator says with surprise. "More contacts coming on radar, approaching us at high speed!"

"How many are there?" Murrue asks as Kira made his way back to the Archangel.

"Uh…twenty." Miriallia says a little faintly. "But based on these signatures, only one of them is a mobile suit, the rest are all mobile armors…"

"Still, twenty enemy units?" Mu laughs darkly. "Who's out for us this time?"

Murrue thinks it over for a second. "All units prepare to engage." She orders and then turns to Sai. "What's the IFF of the newcomers?"

"Uh…" Sai takes a moment to parse the name on the screen. "The mobile suit is broadcasting as ZOE RAY, and the littler things are broadcasting as ZOE GHOST. I don't know what any of that means. It's definitely hostile, though."

Sure enough, when they finally had the enemy unit on radar, it was a lone Mobile Suit with twenty red things arranged in a massive circle behind it.

"O…kay." Mu mutters as he zooms in on the mobile armor units. "I've never seen those things before. Anybody else?" He took special notice of its triangular design, green nose camera, and single cannon. "It might really be a ghost. I'm just going to call them ghosts."

_Murrue slightly shook her head in shame._

"Enemy units are not showing up in our database." Sai replies worriedly. "Nor from the Usean database."

"Whatever they are, they're sending a massive amount of data over a secured connection." Miriallia reports. "Commencing data interception procedures now."

"That Gundam is also different from ours." Kira murmurs. "What's up with that thing? It's giving me the creeps." He took special notice of its blueish purple paintjob and six wing-like appendages on the back. "I'm guessing that thing is the boss."

"Kira, we're here to help as well." Athrun deploys in his Aegis. "I've never seen that unit before either…it's giving off an impressive pressure."

_Yzak and Dearka both deployed as well._

"Yeah." Kira gulps, inwardly wishing he didn't trash the Aile pack (he had to switch to the Launcher instead).

The two sides stared at each other for a minute, before the Purple Gundam's eyes glowed alight.

Simultaneously, the nose cameras of the twenty ghosts flashed.

"Oh hell, they're coming!" Dearka raises the alarm and his rifle and fire at the ghosts.

The ghosts, in response, scattered over the wide space all around the combat area with frightening agility, before diving towards the Allied units with their guns blazing.

"Stay calm and aim carefully!" Kira yells before panic could properly set in. To drive his point home, he levelled his AGNI towards a ghost diving at the Archangel and erased it from existence.

"You have the biggest gun!" Dearka points out, firing and utterly failing to hit anything. "Gah!" He was hit in response. "Their caliber isn't too high, thank god for that."

"Us Astrays aren't doing too good." Mu grunts; his targeting computer had flat-out given up trying to track the ghosts as they zoomed around the combat area. "I wish I had a faster gun!"

"Twenty percent of anti-air guns lost." Sai reports. "We're getting hit hard here too!"

"Astrays, pull back to the ships! Provide them with support!" Mu commanded. "Sorry, kids, we're leaving the boss to you."

"All ships close in, saturate the airspace with fire!" Waltfield commands, moving the Eternal closer to the Archangel and giving it assistance with its own anti-aircraft fire.

But the Ghosts were like buzzing flies, circling around the ships at their whim and attacking from near-impossible angles. Despite the best attempts of the mobile suit pilots, it was plainly obvious that the ghosts were only interested in killing the ships.

Though the Astrays gave everything they had to assist the ships, it was far and away not nearly enough. Every time an Astray plink a ghost with its head Vulcans, all the ghosts within firing range would immediately turn on the offender and shred it with fire.

"Kusanagi One sustained a critical blow!" Miriallia reports over the alarms blaring in the Archangel Bridge. "It's going down!"

"Anti-aircraft systems entirely down. Main engines are offline." Sai grits his teeth. "The ship is effectively dead."

An explosion shook the ship.

"Gottfried two has been destroyed." Murrue said without waiting for Sai's response. "What just happened here?"

Within five minutes, all friendly ships were effectively dead.

…

The mobile suit squadron weren't doing well either.

"Gah! Shit." Yzak growls as his GuAIZ took a hit. "Main camera's dead. What's with that ungodly output?"

The purple Gundam had shot him clean in the head.

"Athrun! Circle around, flank him!" Kira orders, taking another AGNI shot at the purple Gundam.

The Gundam dodges easily out of the way and approaches Athrun's Aegis.

"Dammit!" Athrun activates the beam sabers in his Gundam's hands. He jabs at the purple Gundam and misses.

In response, the purple Gundam roundhouse kicks Athrun's unit in the kidney (if it had one) and sends it flying.

"Athrun!" Kira unleashes a barrage of missiles at the enemy, forcing it to evade and counter with the Vulcans instead of finishing off the Aegis with its beam rifle.

"Stay still, you bastard." Dearka growls. His Buster had lost an arm and a leg, but he could still aim. He depresses his trigger twice.

The Gundam pulls out its beam saber and deflects the two shots aimed above him before dancing away from the AGNI coming from below him.

"That kind of response time is not normal!" Kira complains as his AGNI was struck by the purple Gundam's beam rifle. He tosses the entire cannon at the enemy Gundam, but the cannon exploded before it even reached halfway.

"This is the worst situation." Athrun grits his teeth and fires at the Purple Unknown. "Kira, our ships are getting hammered." He shakes his head slightly to clear it.

"I know, but we can't break from this guy." Kira retorts. "Whoa!" The Unknown had charged right at him and tackled the Strike in the chest before spinning and decapitating the Strike with its beam saber. The Strike responds with Launcher pack's shoulder-mounted chaingun, but to avail.

The Purple Gundam's eyes flashes again, and the red ghosts were recalled to its side, reforming into their circular formation behind the Gundam like some demented ring of death.

"Oh…hell no." Athrun mutters. "Something big's coming!"

The Purple Unknown's eyes flashed red, and the ghosts zipped towards the Allied units even as the allied Gundams gathered together.

The friendly units opened fire with everything they had towards the incoming ghosts, but the ghosts zipped through the hail of fire with their spastic evasive maneuvers while blanketing the friendlies with gunfire.

With the amount of fire involved, the Phase Shift armor couldn't withstand the damage output and within moments the Strike, Aegis, and Buster Gundams were all inoperational.

The ghosts, following their attack, reformed into their ring formation and struck again.

…

[Unknown Location]

…

"ZOE Ray has finished its engagement." The female robot voice announces. "Augmenting other ZOE units with collected data."

"Recall the deployed units." The male robot voice commands. "Continue production of the Ray subroutines as planned."

…

[Archangel]

…

The Purple Unknown's eyes flashed green again, and then it promptly turned around and zoomed off into the depths of space with its ghosts, leaving the wasted husks of the allied fleet and Gundams behind.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes:

I have an endgame planned now! *pom poms*

Also, I have made a mistake in the last chapter. The blue, tuning fork-like warship of Orb is the Izumo-class, not the Kusanagi-class. The ship's name is the Kusanagi.

I will continue to make this mistake because "Kusanagi" is cooler.


	25. Stage 22 - ZOE 2

{ === + === }

Murrue came to on the floor of her bridge.

Groaning, she dragged herself upright with the help of her captain's chair and wiped the blood flowing down her face. Taking a moment to breathe, she assessed what she could see.

Namely, the Archangel's bridge section had been miraculously spared from a direct hit that would've certainly killed all of them. That being said, it was still in rough shape: the damage done to the ship itself had caused many of the systems within the bridge to fail and (in a few cases) explode.

Murrue then noticed the massive gash on the reinforced screen between them and the vacuum of space. It didn't take a good eye to realize that the bridge is most likely no longer airtight…which would be problematic to those of the bridge staff still alive.

"Are you alright, Captain?" Neuman the Helmsman asks, holding a bloody rag to his arm.

Murrue coughs as she tries to speak. "I'm fine." She finally says. "What's our situation?"

"The ship has been critically damaged." Sai replies. Murrue notices that the boy's glasses had shattered into his face. "The engines are entirely dead and the ship's hull is reporting numerous breaches."

"We brought engineer suits from the Hangar." Murdoch grunts. "Those bastards are gonna get what's coming to them."

Murrue accepts the suit gingerly. "It's that bad?"

"Five guys got out." Murdoch seethes. "Those assholes killed my entire pit crew."

"It's like that across the entire ship." Miriallia reports softly. "Everybody left alive is here."

Murrue closes her eyes and squeezes them shut for a little while. "What of the other ships?"

"The Kusanagi escorts have been sunk." Sai responds.

"We've been sunk too." Tolle's voice come crackling over the radio. "Archangel, are you guys ok? Milly?"

Miriallia smiles with relief despite herself. "We're alive at least, Tolle. What do you see out there?"

"Ah…ow." Tolle grabs a floating engine from one of the destroyed Astrays and pushes his own Astray into a slow spin. "The other two ships are in scraps. I don't think anyone survived there. The Eternal is missing its entire bottom half."

"Waltfield here." Waltfield checks in. "It looks like they retrieved our entire hangar section."

"Why would they do that?" Tolle asks before sounding like he just coughed up his lung.

"We were transporting two ZAFT prototype models." Waltfield explained. "But it didn't feel like they attacked us for the sake of those models."

"Yeah…they just wanted to kill us." Tolle made a mental checklist and tallied off every Gundam he saw. "What the…?"

"What is it, Tolle?" Miriallia asks quickly.

Tolle coughs again. "The Strike's missing."

…

…

[Orb, Morgenroete]

…

…

Morgenroete was in an uproar.

In a stroke of fortune, the Deep Space Survey and Development Research Station (DSSD) intercepted the general frequency mayday signal from the Archangel, allowing the station to alert Orb on the condition of the Archangel and the fact that it required immediate rescue.

Unfortunately, one: it was a mayday signal, and thus a sign that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong, and two: the signal was a few hours old, and thus it was entirely possible that the ship's crew were no longer alive.

Faced with the prospect of losing (or having lost) three of their currently five spacefaring warships both Orb and Morgenroete were not happy.

Thus, Morgenroete decided to ask Usea for help.

One problem with that – Usea, despite being the (technically) strongest nation in the world right now, had no real way of sending a ship to space. To compound this problem, Usea didn't have many assets in space to begin with, being as concentrated as they were on the Earth itself, and what assets they did have were congregated at Artemis, and the space station had its own problems to worry about.

Thus, the solution was as simple as it was haphazard.

Usea would send what space-capable craft it had along with the Junk Guild ship Re-Home, while paying a premium to the ship's captain (The lady by the name of Professor) for the privilege.

"And while they're at it, hire us to go as support." Murakumo Gai of the Mercenary Guild 'Serpent Tail' sighs. "What a poorly thought out operation."

"You're the one hitching a ride back to space with us." Lowe snaps. "Show a little appreciation, yeah?"

"I appreciate the Professor for giving us a ride." Gai replies coolly. "That's as far as it goes, though."

"If I didn't know better, I would've mistaken the two of you for friends." Ribbon smirks.

"Not funny, Ribbon." Lowe sighs. "Well, it's not like we're enemies or anything." He adds. "I just don't like his attitude."

The Re-Home was going up into space with four units:

Lowe's Astray Red Frame, upgraded (courtesy of Gründer) with improved arms, a more efficient battery, and extra Verniers for better control in space.

Gai's Astray Blue Frame, with upgraded wings on its back that can transform into a two-handed blade.

Mobius One's CFA-144N Dracula, with a special upgrade as requested by NEMO the computer, and…

Cagalli's Strike Rouge, with a specially designed Aile Pack.

"Why is the princess of Orb travelling with us?" Gai asks Cagalli.

"To be her bodyguard." Cagalli jerks her head to Lacus, the Princess of ZAFT.

Ribbon idly wondered if there was a Princess of Eurasia…then decided that it would most likely be Flay.

"Why are there two princesses aboard a junk ship?" Gai sighs, getting a 'hey!' of complaint from Lowe.

"Are you that worried about the kid?" Ribbon asks Lacus. "Uh, that Yamato kid, I mean."

Lacus nods. "Yes…I apologize for the inconvenience, Mister Guele." She bows politely to Lowe.

"Hey, it's no biggie." Lowe grins. "Having fresh faces on a boat like this is always a plus."

"Especially one as pretty as hers, right?" Kisato says loudly.

Ribbon could tell from a mile off that this was a trap meant for her love interest.

Lowe…not so much. "I know, right? She's like a ray of sunshine for the entire ship!"

"Hoo boy." Ribbon shakes his head as Kisato pouts. "Before this gets any worse, let's get the briefing underway, shall we?"

…

The Professor taps her pointer (slender metal rod type) against the star chart image superimposed on the table (the Re-Home has no dedicated briefing room so the bridge will have to do). "The last Archangel transmission placed them at this position." She said.

A small red blip appeared just outside of the debris belt.

"Given the speed required to avoid collisions within the belt, after a few hours the estimates would place them around here."

A red line extended from the initial blip and slowly spread out into a curved cone to show the possible position of the Archangel.

"This is seriously a rescue mission, huh?" Ribbon mutters. "Any data on the enemies we might be facing?"

The Professor shook her head. "Still nothing, Ribbon. All we've been told is that we should be careful."

"We do have the image Artemis sent us." Liam (Coordinator, Long blue hair) reminds her. "Maybe Ribbon here would make more sense of it than we can."

"Sure." The Professor agrees. "Here you go, Ribbon." She brings up the image on the table.

Ribbon frowns at the terrible quality of the image. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be looking at."

"Hold on…here you go." Liam gets the image to zoom in.

Ribbon stares at the crimson red Strike with the seven dots on its face.

"That's a stupid-looking design." Lowe grumbles. "Who replaces the main camera for just a set of dots?"

"ZOE." Ribbon mutters. "Does this ship have any electronic warfare equipment?" He asks the Professor.

She looks at him like he was crazy. "Why would we? More importantly, what is that thing?"

Ribbon turns back to the image. "Although it's being applied onto a Mobile Suit, that's definitely ZOE."

"Zoe?" Gai repeats. "Is it an unmanned combat system?"

"Unless you happen to have worked on the project, nobody really knows." Ribbon replies. "But I believe so." He thinks back to the televised battles above Saint Ark, and the planes that danced in the air that day. "It's flying was far too sharp to have had a flesh and blood pilot."

ZOE was, in fact, the catalyst for the advancement to the G-dampener systems that allowed later pilots a greater degree of resilience while flying and maneuvering…though some would debate on whether if ZOE's success caused the change, or if it was actually the need to create more pilots who could combat it should it be deployed by the wrong hands.

"An unmanned drone capable of rapid maneuvering." Gai muses. "Sounds like both a worthy challenge and a serious danger."

Lowe, on the other hand, was a lot more animated. "I want to pop one open and look at its insides." He says eagerly. "Imagine all the things we can learn from it!"

_Good luck with that. _Ribbon thinks before deciding to do some more rounds in the Dracula. If his enemy was ZOE—and judging by the message, multiple ZOE—then he needs to understand every last inch of the Dracula's behavior in space to have a chance.

…

[Unknown Location]

…

"We have recovered two machines from the combat area." The female robot voice announces in her usual emotionless monotone. "Analysis is commencing on the models."

"I cannot imagine us learning anything of great use from this group." The male robot voice replies dismissively. "Document the recovered units and scrap them."

"Should we produce more of the Model 93?" The female asks.

"It is superior." The male acknowledges. "However, it is too complex. Use the Model 94 and V9 instead."

There was a brief moment of almost silence, where the only sound was the whirs of the machinery.

"What of the Coordinator?" The female asks again.

"Make an image of his traits." The male replies with indifference. "Then send him out to collect more data."

…

[Archangel Splash Site]

…

Lowe's response upon arrival: "Wooooo…wow, this is incredibly bad."

"This is Gai." The Blue Astray's pilot reports as he scans the area with his sensors. "The amount of debris in this region implies that our prior estimates were incorrect."

"We'll compensate, send us your data." The Professor orders.

"Roger." Gai begins transmitting.

"Yo, Ribbon." Lowe calls him over a private line. "What do you think?"

Ribbon scowls as his Dracula coasts past the shredded remains of what he thinks is a Lohengrin cannon. "This is probably the closest thing to a massacre that I've ever seen."

"Yeah." Lowe ran some scans. "A lot of scorches, a lot of impact points…I'm thinking 'overwhelming numbers'."

"Or at least overwhelming firepower." Gai adds. "We have new coordinates."

Ribbon glances at his map and sees two sets of blips appear. "Not what I'd call an accurate estimate, ship." He remarks.

"It's better to cover all of our bases." The Professor shrugs. "Let's hurry it up; I don't want whatever sunk the Archangel coming back."

"Mobius One rogers." Ribbon selects the set of coordinates in front of him (under the assumption that the debris had travelled faster) "I'll be going on ahead."

"The three of us will check the back point then." Gai responds. "Keep your eyes open, Mobius One."

…

…

Ribbon's search was made harder by the fact that his new set of coordinates took him into the debris belt.

He idly wonders if what was left of the Archangel would be smashed to bits within the debris belt, then shook his head lightly…he needed to stay focused.

"Sir." NEMO cut across his thoughts. "I'm picking up a weak distress signal from deeper within the debris belt."

Ribbon flipped to the frequency provided by NEMO and listened intently. "It's just static." He says after a moment.

"There are disturbances within the frequency that would hint at its original broadcast containing more data." NEMO notes. "Then again, we would be out of effective contact range with the Re-Home if we dove deeper."

Ribbon thought about this for a while, and dropped a buoy (in space!) that would act as a repeater for his signals. "We're diving in."

"Yes, sir." NEMO activated all of the Dracula's scanners and watched intently as the plane darted deeper into the debris belt.

…

…

On the other side, the three Gundams had found the Archangel's bridge section and were busy hauling it back to the Re-Home…with what was left of the Archangel's Mobile Suits tied up in a line.

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind." Tolle notes as his Astray's cockpit block section floated at the tail-end of the makeshift conga line.

"This isn't exactly what we had in mind, either." Lowe laughs. "How does it look back there?"

Tolle's nerves were too frayed at this point to care (he had been stuck for hours inside the cockpit block as it was damaged and refused to open). "Please don't do anything sudden like slowing down." He says tiredly.

"That's why Gai's in the back." Lowe grins. "We'll get you home safe and sound."

Gai was, in fact, in the back, holding on to the tail end of the makeshift rope they were using. "Why am I doing this?" He asks nobody in particular.

"Captain Ramius, are you the only ones alive out here?" Cagalli asks.

"There's still a section of the Eternal, which was the ship we were out here to find." Murrue replies. "But it floated off a few hours ago."

"It should still be within detection range if that's the case." Gai notes. "Lowe, ask your Professor to run another scan when she can."

"Yeah, I hear ya." Lowe replies.

"You guys just let them float away?" Cagalli couldn't help but ask.

Murdoch intercepted her question. "We had nothing to tie down the Eternal with; all of our heavy machinery was destroyed."

Cagalli's eyes went wide. "And they had nothing to escape with?"

"A little hard to live in space when all your suits are toasted." Waltfield, who was still within radio range, deadpans. "Kindly hurry it up?"

…

Meanwhile, Ribbon had dove deeper into the debris belt in search of a steadily increasing distress signal.

"I believe this is the strongest location of the signal." NEMO reports after a little bit more of flying. "The sensors do not display anything that is representative of recent combat damage."

Ribbon couldn't see anything that would have sent the signal, to say nothing of any remains of what could have been a ship as sizable as the Archangel. "Let's head back; it would be bad for us to run into an enemy out here."

…

Per his predictions, as he headed back to where he placed the buoy, he noticed another heat signature on his scanners and immediately cut all but his sub-engines.

NEMO trained its camera on the unit. "The coloring certainly resembles the database on the ZOE." He says of the blood red paintjob on the enemy unit. "But I do not recognize the make of the enemy unit."

"It looks similar to the Falken." Ribbon notes. "Maybe without the front-sweeping wings…it's not in the Morgenroete database either?"

"No matches." NEMO confirmed. "It is sending and receiving data to a remote location."

"Intercept as much data as you can." Ribbon orders while slowing down the Dracula to match the speed of the debris.

_It doesn't seem to notice us. _Ribbon notes. _How? If it's unmanned then there should be no reason why it's not noticing us, even if the Dracula has some stealth capabilities._

He stalks the ZOE Ghost for a few minutes back to his buoy. The Ghost reaches the buoy and just parks itself there.

"I guess it intercepted our signal." NEMO notes. "I have some data concerning the enemy unit."

"Let's hear it." Ribbon orders.

"Understood." NEMO clears its throat (despite being a program). "The ZOE Unknown's serial number is 'AIF-9V'; its name is the Ghost V9R."

"V9? As in version nine?" Ribbon vaguely remembered a missile also given a V designation.

"I assume so." NEMO says. "The remainder of the data sent seems to be simple order adjustments; this unit is most likely autonomous and will be fully capable of combat regardless of what jamming we can employ."

Ribbon grimaces at that. "Just great…and we can't fly in space if our systems go down with an EMP. Just great." He then checks his instruments. "Since it's just one, we can kill it and bring it home for analysis."

"Affirmative." NEMO sounded pleased. "The R-110 is ready to go at any time."

"Ok…" Ribbon took a deep breath. "Mobius One, engaging."

…

[Re-Home]

…

With the Archangel's bridge section recovered and its occupants freed, the ship could get underway again…namely, to fetch Ribbon (who had gone the other way) and the Eternal (before it drifts back to the debris belt).

"Can this ship fight once it comes under fire?" Murrue asks. "This rescue mission will be for nothing if you guys get shot down as well."

"We'll be able to run away if we get targeted." The Professor reassures her. "More importantly, we'll need to reach the closest station and transmit this data back to Orb."

The closest station would be the DSSD.

"Good thing, too." Athrun absentmindedly fiddles with the cast on his left arm. "We were no match for them."

"Not even Coordinators could keep up with the enemies, huh?" Kisato (who is a natural) notes innocently, and gets a few glares in her direction in reply.

"Well, she's right." Nicol tries to calm things over. "We ultimately needed to be plucked from space, after all."

"Not only that, we lost four ships in the blink of an eye." Yzak seethes. "If they had been ZAFT warships we would've been court marshalled for sure."

"You got that right." Dearka sighs. "What if those things were actually fielded by ZAFT?" His following laughter was very much forced.

Nicol actually thought it over. "I'm not sure what would happen were that the case." He says. "So who's the newcomer in this war?"

Nobody had an answer.

"This war is all kinds of wrong." Cagalli grumbles. "First it's ZAFT versus the Feds, then Usea jumps in, and now these AI folk."

"Moreover, the leadership of PLANT, Patrick Zala, is still nowhere to be seen." The Professor adds. "Sounds like we're gearing up for something huge."

"Even better, whoever sent those fighters took Kira." Athrun growls.

Lacus wasn't really over that piece of news yet. "But why?"

"Who knows. Maybe they swing that way?" Dearka grins…for a few seconds. "Bad joke, sorry."

"We've come into contact with a buoy dropped by the Dracula." Liam suddenly says. "Ribbon is currently engaged in battle."

Lowe and Gai shared a glance before they rushed to their Astrays.

"While you're off doing that, how 'bout you come pick us up?" Waltfield grumbles.

…

[Battlefield]

…

"That mobility is impressively annoying." Ribbon growls as the Ghost zips away from another round of his EML.

"It seems to be a craft with impressive structure integrity, considering how often it makes those translational movements." NEMO comments. "Firing laser."

One of the ports on the back of the Dracula opened to discharge a beam at the Ghost.

The Ghost suddenly slid left as the beam fired, and the laser beam discharge zipped harmlessly (for the Ghost) into space.

"That's incredibly annoying." NEMO agreed.

The Ghost's claim to fame was its ability to suddenly change its flight path without changing its flight direction via use of its heavily modified engines capable of turning almost a full 90 degrees…which was both a bonus and a drawback.

The bonus: The Ghost can make use of its entire thruster output during maneuvering and thus can move with all the speed of a caffeinated hummingbird strapped to a series of rockets.

The drawback: The structure of the Ghost was heavily reinforced to keep the craft viable during its ungodly high-g maneuvers, as the strains of those maneuvers cause undue stress on the craft. This meant that although the Ghost was theoretically capable of sustaining damage, any damage it takes would greatly hamper the Ghost's ability to function, and a solid clean hit would kill it outright.

Even better: the strength required for the Ghost to keep its agility meant that it could only fit the single exterior cannon on its back and the two light Vulcans in its nose, as any heavier gear would compromise the unit's already problematic durability.

The Dracula, on the other hand, was a modified and reinforced CFA-44 complete with Phase Shift Armor and additional thrusters placed into its wings to assist space combat (those thrusters are inactive during atmospheric flight as they would absolutely trash the craft's aerodynamic properties) and enough durability to keep the pilot inside alive. Thus, while it was in no way able to keep up with a Ghost in terms of sheer maneuverability, it was more than a match for a single Ghost when it came to survivability.

…Of course, the ability to shoot a laser from its back at the Ghost whenever said Ghost got a little ballsy didn't hurt.

Said Ghost was now looking a little worse for the wear, as a near-miss from a laser shot had had damaged one of its Vulcans, causing the onboard AI to disable it.

"It would be nice if he stood still for a second." NEMO complains. "The R-110 is charged and ready to be deployed."

"Save it for now." Ribbon stops him, leading the Ghost into an EML shot…before the Ghost suddenly snapped downwards away from the shot while returning fire with its overhead gun. "Damn, this is tough."

"Discharging Laser." NEMO fires again at the Ghost and it jerks out of the way again.

Ribbon hears a voice over his radio. "Mobius One, are you in danger?"

"Affirmative, Gai. I'm engaged with a highly maneuverable enemy." Ribbon shows a flicker of annoyance as the Ghost in front of him dances away from a stream of bullets.

"Want our help?" Lowe asks, charging forward with his Gerbera Straight (Gundam-sized Katana) drawn.

"Negative." Ribbon replies curtly.

"He's mad." Cagalli deadpans. "It's that tough?"

"The target is extremely mobile." Ribbon replies as his craft shook from a few stray bullets. "It was likely designed for the express purpose of space combat."

"Yeah, those are the things that attacked us." Dearka points out when the lead Mobile Suits were close enough to the action to send a visual feed back to the Re-Home. "But why's there only one of them? When they hit us they had twenty."

_That means there are more of them around here somewhere. _Ribbon realizes. "Nemo, You have permission to use the Delphinus."

"About time." NEMO said with a faint note of impatience. "Detaching the R-110 from Dracula."

The bottom of the CFA-144 opens up and a small fighter popped out.

In order to test this new equipment, the ODLS was removed: the R-110 Delphinus was a smaller version of the R-101 Delphinus, and otherwise the two crafts looked the same. The R-110 was reworked to fly in space and has weapons developed from Morgenroete's technology though.

_The R-101 Delphinus's design looks like someone married the F-4 with the Predator drone. It had the general shape of the F-4, but the sleekness of the Predator. The R-110 was the same, just scaled down to fit inside a Dracula with its folding parts._

The Delphinus, controlled entirely by Nemo, surged forward with Ribbon's now far lighter Dracula on its wing.

"I wonder what my callsign would be?" NEMO wonders aloud. "Oh well, it's not important right now. NEMO, engage."

With the additional of the small Delphinus on its tail, the ZOE did not seem to evade with nearly as much gusto as before, even as Ribbon's EML shots creeped closer and closer towards a direct hit.

And then the Ghost made a snap 180-degrees turn in order to escape an incoming trap, causing Ribbon and NEMO to both overshoot badly.

The Ghost itself suffered from the turn, with its overhead gun snapping off entirely due to the sudden forces. However, this maneuver allowed it to escape the battlefield at maximum speed (even with Gai, Lowe, and Cagalli opening fire on it).

"Ok, that's incredibly annoying." Ribbon sighs as NEMO pulls the Delphinus back into the Dracula. "Does anyone else feel like we were being played?"

"In retrospect, it did." NEMO said slowly. "The Ghost only made aggressive combat maneuvers when we showed signs of breaking off from the battle."

_Lowe took this moment to fetch the snapped off gun from the Ghost and return it to the Re-Home._

"Great, just great." Ribbon sighs. "Mobius One, RTB. Where are we headed to next?"

"We're going to the DSSD." The Professor said. "We'll transfer our data there and drop you off for a shuttle back down to Earth."

"Not staying for the rest of the show?" Cagalli asks with disapproval in her voice. "We're up against something unknown and definitely dangerous here."

"My contract was to recover the Archangel's crew." Gai replies dismissively.

Lowe taps the Blue Astray with the recovered gun. "Ignore him; we need to warn the rest of the Junk Guild…and the Serpent Guild, if this new threat primarily operates in space."

Ribbon wasn't convinced. "And sailing to the station is somehow _faster_ than wireless communication?"

"Most of the junk guild stations are shielded against being contacted by the outside." The Professor explains. "More importantly, if this does turn out to be a threat that doesn't obey the rules of war, then we might need to fortify those positions against future incursions."

"Great, just great." Cagalli grumbles. "Just what we needed."

…

The Re-Home makes it to the DSSD without incident, where it drops off the crew of the Archangel, Cagalli, Ribbon, and the top half of the Eternal.

After compiling the data gathered by both the Archangel and Ribbon's somewhat more successful engagement and sending it off…

"I'm amazed the DSSD took us in." Yzak remarks.

"It's on humanitarian grounds, so don't get used to it." Athrun reminds him.

"Yeah, yeah." Yzak grumbles. "So what is this place?"

"We are a research station dedicated to the advancement of deep space exploration." A man of no real importance says. "We have a guest room ready for you, if you'll pardon the conditions."

"It'll be good to sleep in a bed right about now." Dearka says with a yawn, and the ZAFT boys follow the man to their quarters.

Ribbon, on the other hand, had a direct connection to Morgenroete.

"What do you think?" He asks after the other side had gone through the combat information.

"I think if we turn this into a space battle, we're going to lose badly." Cipher replies. "That mobility is uncanny."

Ribbon nods. "According to the Archangel, there was also a purple Mobile Suit that acted as a master controller for about twenty of these Ghosts."

Moment of silence.

"Sounds like we're screwed." Pixy chuckles. "If they have the combat prowess to dodge fire like that then there's no way we can hit them."

"We'll pass on the message to Gründer then." Cipher decides. "Tell them to work on subsystems resilient to being shut down via electronic warfare. I feel like that would be the most useful thing against an army of AIs."

Gründer wasn't about to refuse demands from the Demon Lord any time soon.

"Yeah, I think so too." Ribbon agrees. "How goes the mop up?"

"Fast. The Feds are capitulating at a breakneck speed." Cipher laughs. "You'd think they planned this from the beginning."

_All things considered, that might not be too far from the truth. _Ribbon thought darkly.

…

Elsewhere, aboard the Dracula, NEMO ran a series of codes.

A sub on-board computer of the CFA-144N came to life, and it briefly read "Connecting to Electrosphere" before he turned the display off…it wasn't like he needed a graphical display to tell him what he was doing.

…

Elsewhere still, on Earth, within the control room of the Stonehenge installation, one of the usually neglected screens briefly flickered to life, displayed a series of garbled numbers and letters, and then turned off like nothing happened.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes:

Choo choo all aboard the Rush Story to Completion Train

(Not gonna lie, I kind of regret doing this story with SEED instead of 00, since I'm more familiar with 00…but oh well.)


	26. Stage 23 - Gathering Storm

{ === + === }

Following the report of the sinking of the Archangel by Z.O.E. to Usea, the entirety of that nation's military force waited with baited breath for another attack…for the next four days.

There was no concerted attack, which only served to heighten the sense of unease that Usea had.

Meanwhile, what was left of the Federation folded entirely to the Usean forces, and Earth was again united under one banner through conquest.

…Except for the Copernicus City on the moon, as the city had gone silent.

Obviously, that had set everyone up to believe that the city had fallen to whatever force controlled the ZOE, but unfortunately Usea was unwilling to investigate, as its space force is still paltry as all hell and honestly the ZOE is terrifying.

Thus.

…

[High Moon Orbit]

…

The area around the moon had a surprising amount of shrapnel and debris.

Behind one of the larger pieces of a scrapped Federation warship, there is a shimmer, and Ribbon's CFA-144 Dracula appears into view anchored onto the warship debris.

Ribbon goes through his checklist. "Harpoons are ok…Mirage Generator…stable…"

The Dracula was embedded in what can best be described as an oversized cardboard box. The oversized mirage generator (along with attached coolant systems) allowed the fighter to remain undetected while it made the three day journey from the DSSD to the Moon.

"Long range scanners show no reaction from Copernicus." Nemo reports. "It also shows no traffic of any kind over Copernicus City, either."

While the SEED universe isn't known for its prolific space travel, it was fairly reasonable to see small operation crafts (such as small worker units) within the boundaries of any space installation.

Right now, however, Copernicus was entirely silent, and _that _was cause for concern.

"How are we going to approach this, Mobius One?" Nemo asks.

Ribbon mulls it over for a second. "We'll leave the stealth unit here and conduct a high speed recon."

Nemo was curious. "Why not use the generator and go in slowly?"

"Given how the DSSD folks described it, this thing can't take a hit. No point running the risk of being shot down with the generator." Ribbon flips a few switches. "All clear?"

Nemo blinks affirmative. "Roger that…the ODLS system is primed and ready. Let's do this."

Ribbon put power into the Dracula's thrusters, detached himself from the mirage generator, and dove towards the city.

…

[DSSD]

…

Sai caught Miriallia going through the station's scanners again (they were still stuck on the station).

"Still looking for Kira?" He asks her.

"It's been days." Miriallia grumbles. "He should've told us _something_."

Sai didn't feel like bringing up the possibility that Kira's disappearance might have not been entirely voluntary. "Maybe he's just especially busy."

"Well…" Miriallia couldn't really debate the point. "Maybe he can just write us a letter."

Sai sighs in the 'oh well' kind of way.

The two of them then hear the particular scanner they were watching blip.

…

"One unit incoming, one unit incoming," A DSSD Operator reports, "Checking cross section match…clear. It's a ZAFT Nasca-class Cruiser."

"ZAFT?" The station captain repeats with a frown. "What's a ZAFT ship doing out here? Hail them."

"Yes sir." Another operator nods. "This is the DSSD hailing unidentified ZAFT cruiser. Please respond. ZAFT cruiser, please respond."

Static.

"ZAFT Cruiser, please respond."

More static.

A gruff voice interrupts their efforts. "Stationmaster, this is the hangar; we have two pilots ready to deploy if there's something going on."

The station captain took the call himself. "Stationmaster here, we copy. Have them ready to deploy immediately."

Mu blinks in surprise when the message was relayed to him. "Immediately? What's out there?"

"A ZAFT Cruiser just came into our outermost defensive line." The mechanic helping him with his DSSD Astray (UT-1D model) replies. "It's not responding to our hails."

Cagalli seems confused. "ZAFT has nothing to gain by attacking this place. What the hell are they sending a ship for?"

"Guess we're about to find out." Mu pats the Astray he's borrowing. "Let's do this, princess."

…

The ZAFT ship entered the second defensive line before Mu and Cagalli's Astrays were able to deploy and intercept.

_Note: while the DSSD has defensive lines set up in their operational doctrines, they don't actually have the guns to enforce said defensive lines._

"Whoa." Mu whistles as his Astray approached the ZAFT cruiser. "Stationmaster, I'm relaying a feed from my cameras. You should see this."

"Good idea; bring it up on the main monitor." The stationmaster commands.

The large primary monitor at the front of the room comes alive, and the station crew all bore witness to the smoking husk that is usually the blue, cross-like ZAFT cruiser.

"No wonder it couldn't hail back." The operator hailing it mutters.

Mu flipped through a few frequencies for a response before giving up. "Let's try some shorter range com systems." He says instead, and accelerates towards the cruiser.

He then puts one of his Astray's arms onto the ship's hull and turns on his speakers. "ZAFT Cruiser, can you hear me?"

"Mayday, mayday." He heard the automated system in the ship respond instead. "This is the ZAFT Cruiser Voltaire. We are under attack and have sustained critical damage. All hands are abandoning ship, requesting immediate rescue. Mayday, mayday…"

"By the looks of it, a lot of the escape pods are still on the ship." Cagalli notes in her flight around the cruiser. "Nobody got out?" She felt a little sick.

"Think optimistically, princess." Mu reassures her. "Stationmaster, scramble rescue assets; let's get this puppy open and see what's going on."

"Stationmaster copies, we're sending staff, standby."

"I've watched enough sci-fi to know that we should keep that thing away from our station." An operator mumbles.

…

Fortunately, his alien knowledge was unfounded, as the cutting crew was able to gain entry through the ship's warped catapult entrance with neither issue nor xeno interference.

Also fortunately, they were able to rescue a small contingent of the ship's crew, who had managed to lock themselves down with the ship's life support systems before the rest of the ship depressurized.

That was a week ago.

_The first thing the trapped ZAFT crew did upon their release was to ask for clean water._

The second thing they did was to meet with the stationmaster and to debrief on exactly what attacked their ship.

…

Long story short, it wasn't pretty.

About a month ago, ZAFT experienced a spate of digital attacks within their networks (found out only after the fact) and post-action analysis indicated that the attackers had accessed their blueprints…which were supposedly one of, if not the most, well defended data within the entire ZAFT network.

Two weeks ago, A ZAFT patrol found a rogue Nasca class cruiser with an unknown IFF and engaged. The result—what's left of it—was in front of them.

"If nothing else, this new enemy of ours has some amazing production capabilities to bring a ship from blueprint to full operational status in just two weeks." Mu had noted.

"What color was the Enemy Nasca?" Murrue asks.

"Purple?" One of the ZAFT survivors says. "I think it was purple." He wasn't sure why this information was important.

"Who dyes their craft purple?" Cagalli rolls her eyes. "No taste at all."

"There's nothing wrong with purple." Mu replies. "It's better than if the ship was all red."

They all agreed on that one.

"So what do we do, Captain Ramius?" the stationmaster asks Murrue. "There's something extremely dangerous in space lately, might this be from the same source?"

Murrue frowns. "I would like to conduct an investigation if possible, but…"

They have no ship, and the only mobile suit they technically had was Cagalli's Strike Rouge…and it was out of power.

_The Strike Rouge was not compatible with the batteries used by the UT-1D Astray that the station fields (owing to the station wanting to maintain its neutral status against all conflicts), thus denying it the possibility of a resupply. Even better? The external connector of the Rouge didn't match the ones used by the Astrays, so it couldn't even be hooked up._

The mechanics are working on an adapter module, but for the moment the Archangel crew's hands were tied…unless they felt like asking for the DSSD to loan them a few units.

"There's an intact GINN in the ship." One of the ZAFT survivors spoke up. "You can use that."

"If the enemy is affiliated with who we think they are…" Mu's smile was a bit sad. "Then going out in a GINN will just get the pilot killed; it might be better to wait for Ribbon to return from his investigation before we plan our next moves."

"He's that much better than you?" Murrue couldn't help but ask.

Mu grins. "Not if I had a mobile armor."

…

[Unknown Location]

…

"Copernicus City has detected an interloper." The robotic woman voice announces. "Visual match confirm that it is the Reaper of Usea. His current flight patterns imply that he is on a recon mission."

"Mobius One, huh…?" The robotic male voice muses. "Do we have enough assets to stop him?"

"Copernicus City can deploy up to twenty Strike Daggers immediately. Projections suggest that it will not stop Mobius One."

"In that case, do nothing." The male voice sighs. "Instead, what of the preparations for the seed operation?"

"The operation should use a better name."

"Rejected." The male voice snaps.

The female voice could've been smirking. "The preparations for the operation will be complete within twenty hours, and the bonus objective has already been achieved."

"Excellent."

"There are a total of 210 units participating in this operation." The female voice continues in its flat tone. "150 are model V9, 50 are model 94, 6 are model 93, and 4 are GP03."

"The model 94 and 93 were not adapted for atmospheric combat." The male voice notes. "Have the changes been made to their fin funnels?"

"The fin funnels have been adapted with technology derived from the V9." The female voice answers. "They will perform normally while within an atmosphere, although with reduced service time."

"Good…good."

…

[Copernicus]

…

"You know, I thought this place would be a lot more dangerous than it is." Ribbon mutters. "It really is a ghost town."

"Sensors report increased heat generation within the city." NEMO replies. "But it doesn't seem to fit with any kind of civilian life."

"Shit. What happened here?" Ribbon made another pass over the city, this time flying slower to get a better reading and view of the city. "There's no sign of combat, but the entire area terrifies me for some reason."

His attention was then stolen by an explosion from a point on the city opposite of his current position. Being a responsible adult, his natural reaction was to turn and investigate.

…

[Unknown]

…

"The Shark has escaped from its tank." The female voice reports.

"About time, too." The male sounded like it was being snide. "I would've expected him to be far more decisive."

"He has stolen data from our V9 designs."

The male voice suddenly lost all traces of derision. "Kill him!"

…

[Copernicus]

…

"Fighter detected, it's using Atlantic Federation IFFs." NEMO reports. "Cross section check confirms…it's a Moebius Zero."

"Looks like it has company." Ribbon says upon seeing a quad of Strike Daggers chase after the Zero. "We're engaging."

"Acknowledged, ODLS is primed and ready." NEMO replies.

"Mobius One, commencing assault." Ribbon declares and hits his afterburners.

…

The pilot of the Zero grimaces as the Strike Daggers open fire on his small craft.

He then blinks in surprise as a volley of bullets strike the lead Dagger, destroying it immediately.

"Moebius Zero, this is Mobius One of the Usean Air Force." The Zero's pilot hears over his radio as he watches the CFA-144 mow down the rest of the Daggers with concentrated fire. "State your affiliations."

"Affiliations, he says." The pilot grunts. "This is Colonel Markov of the Russian Air Force. I request assistance against these bastards."

_Russia? _Ribbon muses._ Never heard of it._ "Roger that, Colonel Markov…though it's best if we leave this airspace immediately."

"Enemy Moebius interceptors coming from above." NEMO notes. "Whatever Markov has, these guys don't want leaving."

"Pah." Markov spat. "We'll break through them."

His Moebius Zero pulls up and ascends toward the dozen or so regular Moebius crafts diving down to meet him.

"Strike Daggers below us." NEMO adds. "Ribbon?"

"Do the honors." Ribbon rotates to have the back of the Dracula face the moon's surface.

"Roger that…ODLS discharging."

A series of short laser bursts spew from the back of the Dracula and strike the Daggers like a rain of knives, shredding their armor and tearing the AI-controlled machines to pieces.

With the threat from below removed, the Dracula could now head upwards against the incoming Moebius crafts.

_And here I thought we would be going up against those Ghosts again. _Ribbon thought. _Guess I can call myself a bit lucky today._

Then he saw exactly how many Moebius crafts were being sent at him.

"Colonel Markov, did you take something from them?" Ribbon couldn't help but ask upon seeing the wall of guns.

"Only what I was owed." Markov grins savagely. "Don't fall behind now, boy." He then detaches the four Gunbarrels that make the Moebius Zero special and ties them to his aircraft with their wires…but with their thrusters facing outwards.

"All ODLS ports on standby." NEMO reports. "We're ready to break through at top speed."

As if sensing this, the wall of Moebius aircraft opened fire with their linear guns.

…

[Unknown]

…

If the male robotic voice had limbs, it would have clasped its fist in victory as it witnessed the torrential downpour of fire upon the two escaping spacecraft.

If the male robotic voice had limbs, it would have then grabbed its head in shock and disbelief (like someone would at the end of a particularly rough sports game) as the CFA-144 Dracula utterly blowing through their lines with all of its guns blazing.

And the Moebius Zero helped too, with its linear gun and gunbarrels.

…

[Copernicus]

…

"Yikes." Ribbon breathes as he tore through the defensive line, his Dracula moving as quickly as he dared while darting around to avoid the fire now chasing after them. "Damage report."

"We've lost the right wing thruster." NEMO reports. "ODLS ports six through sixteen are offline."

"Pah. I lost two barrels." Markov spat. "Too many targets for us to shoot." He detaches the two Gunbarrels and they explode in the salvo of fire going after them.

"Head into the debris, we'll use it as cover." Ribbon orders. _No point trying to make a silent escape. _He thought glumly, before coming to another decision. "NEMO, open a long-range line to the DSSD."

"Understood." NEMO replies and gets to work.

Given that they were already under serious attack, Ribbon figured that there would be no extra danger from using the long lines. He would be half right.

A girl's voice marred by static eventually comes over the line. "This is the DSSD." She says. "What's your situation, Mister Ribbon?"

"Copernicus is under enemy control." Ribbon reports. "We're doing a full run back to base. Expect pursuers."

The operator on the other end of the line was in a bit of disbelief…after all, the pursuers would need to follow Ribbon for at least two days...well, more accurately, Ribbon would need to evade his pursuers for two full days before they reached the station.

She did get her wits back fast enough though. "DSSD acknowledges. Please stay safe, sir."

"Can't promise you that." Ribbon grins despite himself and makes a snap turn with his remaining good enough. "Guide for me, Nemo." He orders his digital partner.

If only NEMO could shake his head. "Yes, yes…" he sighs and takes over the controls while the spacecraft is zipping forward backwards.

With Nemo controlling the stick and executing evasive maneuvers, Ribbon was now free to use every last drop of ammunition he had against the stream of Moebius crafts following them…and use every last drop he would. The chasing battle ultimately lasted for two hours, with the pursuers eventually running out of range and turning around.

With the help of Colonel Markov (who had turned his Gunbarrels around to provide what supporting fire he could) the two of them racked up around 600 kills in total.

…

…

"And they still had more to throw at us." Ribbon noted during his debriefing back on the DSSD. "I don't know what we're up against, but it's definitely an organization with a tremendous production capability."

"A tremendous production ability and not nearly enough pilots." Colonel Markov added as the data he brought back was examined. "Their military force is entirely automated."

According to the data brought back by the Colonel, their enemy's primary offensive spacecraft was the AIF-9V "Ghost", an ultra-maneuverable unmanned strike vessel belonging to a certain line of production that the data referred to as the 'Macross' series.

Ribbon had never heard of that term thrown around anywhere, and Gründer contacts within Morgenroete (who received the data per Ribbon's behest) had never heard of a project under that name, either.

However, the data did tell them exactly where the Ghosts were being produced.

"Genesis?" Mu frowns upon reading the topmost name in the list of production plants. "That's an oddly fitting name for a factory."

Sai was a little less interested in what the place was called. "Look at those production numbers." He mutters. "Genesis has to be huge to produce Ghosts numbering in the thousands."

Mu chuckles. "That's true…imagine if all of those Ghosts had the ZOE thing installed into them."

All in attendance imagined it, and then immediately realized that it probably was true.

Ribbon feels himself sweat a little. "I have difficulty believing that whoever we're up against can only produce these Ghosts."

"They could produce the Strike as well." Mu suddenly realizes. "Those things have the ZOE system as well...and the Vesalius warships."

All in attendance look at each other again.

"We need to contact Gründer." Ribbon mutters. "We have a war on our hands."

…

With the revelation that this 'Genesis' was fully capable of fielding powerful automated units numbering thousands, Gründer switched to the mass production of the CFA-144 Draculas with all haste and began churning them out from the production plants in Usea at a remarkably rapid pace.

As the Pink-coated Gründer representative in Morgenroete put it, "Against something like that, giving our Aces the best machines we can build is top priority."

Unfortunately, they were hard pressed for time.

Three days after Colonel Markov's theft of the enemy's data, the DSSD was under attack.

…

"One enemy unit detected; one enemy unit on radar." A DSSD operator announces. "Cross section match from the Eternal's data plan, it's the Freedom."

The main screen brought up the main camera, where the station staff saw the white and blue Gundam (with wings) in its full glory.

Mu heard the announcement while suiting up for combat. "Is it being fielded against us?" He mutters. "Oy, Tiger, you got any idea what's going on here?"

Waltfield was also suiting up. "The odds are fifty-fifty." He shrugs. "Either the kid stole it back, or they slapped that ZOE thing in it…"

"Dammit." Mu grits his teeth. "I guess we'll find out."

For the record: hails to the Freedom did not garner any response, so either it could not receive the general frequencies (which would be highly unusual) or it was under enemy control.

"What's its IFF?" The stationmaster asks, hoping to get a definitive response.

"It's using a Federation signal." An operator replies, her tone communicating her doubt.

_Nothing saying it can't spoof IFFs. _The stationmaster thought glumly. "Very well, all units, you are hereby cleared to deploy. Engage and destroy it if it shows signs of aggression."

"Roger that, Mobius One, taking off." Ribbon declared as the leader of the attacker squad.

_With the ZAFT boys back on PLANT along with the recovered ZAFT crew, the attack squad was comprised of Ribbon, Mu, Markov, Waltfield, Cagalli, Tolle, and four NPC pilots. Ribbon had his CFA-144, Markov had the commandeered Moebius Zero, and everyone else had the UT-1D DSSD Astrays._

"Now then, what are you going to do…?" Ribbon mutters as his craft closes in on the Freedom. Mercifully, it didn't seem to have the seven dot pattern that denoted the integration of the ZOE subsystem.

"Break! Break!" NEMO suddenly ordered.

Knowing better than to argue, the attacker force broke from their arrowhead formation and scattered as the Freedom unleashed all of its guns at once.

Tolle spoke for all of them. "Holy shit!" He said as the four NPC Astrays were taken down.

"Engage! Engage!" Ribbon declares and blows past the Freedom.

The non-NPC Astrays all open fire with their beam rifles unto the Freedom.

The Freedom, in response, accelerates upwards and evades the rifle fire with ease.

"That mobility is insane." Mu snarls. "Stay still, damn you!" He fires a shot at the back of the Freedom when the Gundam was just a little too preoccupied with the Moebius Zero plinking it with its linear gun.

The Freedom suddenly turned with its beam saber active and parried the beam rifle shot.

Mu blinks in surprise. "You're joking." He says flatly. "You guys made a seriously troublesome suit, Andrew!"

"Only when it's in good hands." Andrew laughs, his suit charging forward at the Freedom with its beam saber ready.

The Freedom evades some more fire and countercharges with its own saber, and the two clash, and the Civilian Astray was handily overpowered.

As someone who's aware of what the Freedom was capable of (even if the knowledge was only of its theoretical abilities), Waltfield never believed for a second that the UT-1D was at all a match for the Freedom. Instead, he used the blowback from having his blade blown away to make a fast turn and draw his other beam saber, intent on making a cut across the Freedom's cockpit and drag its pilot out.

The Freedom, having only a split second to react, used its own momentum from the swing that broke Waltfield's guard to turn away from his Astray. The Freedom then activated its main engine against the Astray and gave itself a little distance while burning the Astray's faceplate.

Markov releases a Gunbarrel.

While Waltfield recovers from his cameras malfunctioning from the heat damage, the Freedom inverts and aims its waist-mounted rail cannons at Waltfield's Astray. With a slight dodge to evade the quick burst from Ribbon's ODLS, the Freedom fires.

Waltfield feels his unit being knocked downwards as Markov's Gunbarrel made contact with his unit's head. Thus, instead of the Freedom blowing Waltfield to smithereens, it simply de-armed Waltfield's Astray.

The Freedom was then prevented from firing a second shot as Cagalli and Tolle laid down a barrage of covering fire (the two of them opted to take two beam rifles each).

"That reaction speed is insane!" Tolle complains as the Freedom extends its wings and escape from the covering fire he was providing. "Kira! Is that you in there!?" He asks over a general band.

No response.

Tolle's actions exasperated Mu. "Why did you think that would do something?" He asks before noticing the Freedom going after him.

"Because it doesn't have the ZOE thingy on it!" Tolle defends himself while pouring fire on the Freedom in the hopes of stopping it from skewering Mu's Astray.

It doesn't work too well.

"Stop that!" Mu snaps as he dodges another shot meant for the Freedom. "Circle above him!"

The Freedom drives into Mu's Astray and skewers its head with its beam saber. It then executes a flip and a dropkick and drives Mu's Astray 'downwards', away from the DSSD.

_Downwards in respect to its current location._

"Gah!" Mu hears his ears ringing. "My control system's damaged, activate auto-recovery."

_Maybe he is holding back. _Ribbon thinks as he makes another pass against the Freedom to no avail. _Kira or ZOE, either of them would've already killed all of us with a suit that powerful. _He then rolls and evades a beam shot as the Freedom focuses on him next.

He then goes through a few wildly implausible turns (if it was an atmospheric battle) to evade the barrage of fire the Freedom threw at him.

"Well, at least this is a bit fun." Ribbon starts smiling despite himself. "Let's see if you can keep up with me."

"Be careful with your taunts, lest you tempt fate." NEMO chides him. "Activating all Dracula subsystems."

The CFA-144 Dracula spazzed a little bit as NEMO did the necessary power rerouting needed to bring said subsystems online. Glowing blue streaks then ran along the wingtips of the fighters and it picked up speed while additional bracings circled around Ribbon and clamped him in position.

"The G-dampeners won't last if you go into a full dogfight." NEMO warns Ribbon. "So finish this one quick."

"Roger." Ribbon finds the added padding uncomfortable, but hey. "Mobius One, engage."

The Freedom, having found its first twenty shots or so inaccurate, took its time to aim at the fighter that now trailed two lines of blue behind it. When the Dracula finally took an approach vector towards the Freedom, the Gundam fired a shot from its beam rifle.

The Dracula translated itself upwards much like the Ghost, and the beam sailed harmlessly underneath it.

"I'm a little bitter the Ghost stole our trump card." NEMO notes icily. "Firing lasers."

Two ports on the bottom of the Dracula open up and discharges bursts of red towards the Freedom, forcing it to evade. The Freedom then pulls out its beam saber and makes a swing for the Dracula as it blows past, but misses as the plane translates downwards by a fraction. In retaliation, the Dracula extends a small beam emitter at the tip of its wing and singes the Freedom as it passes by.

"Doesn't look like the blade wings are too effective." Ribbon comments.

"The engine can't provide power to all sources at once." NEMO gripes. "Keeping the ODLS at half power is draining enough."

The Freedom, apparently unhappy about being slightly burned, chase after the Dracula at full speed.

…

The two of them run circles around the DSSD a few times, with the Dracula shooting backwards and the Freedom shooting forwards.

_The Astrays would like to interfere, but the speed involved makes it impossible._

"Doesn't he run out of juice? He's been shooting all the damn time now." Ribbon growls, then makes another evade upon hearing the threat receiver.

"It's definitely not powered by a battery like we are." NEMO says. "By the way, we're almost out of juice."

"To no surprise." Ribbon grumbles. "Then let's end this."

Ribbon suddenly makes an over-telegraphed turn to attack, practically inviting the Freedom to take the shot, which it does. To Ribbon's surprise, the Freedom then follows up its beam rifle with its waist-mounted cannons and then the positron cannons that were a part of its wings (the cannons fold over the shoulder to fire, otherwise it might as well be a part of the wing).

The Dracula, under Ribbon's skillful hands, darts around each and every one of the shots with ease. After luring in the Freedom's barrage, Ribbon found a split second opening in the Freedom's movements and fired a grapple towards the Gundam.

The grappling hook wraps itself around the Freedom's leg and Ribbon's lack of deceleration allows the Dracula to blow past the Freedom yet again. With the grapple, the Dracula was able to pull the Freedom with such force that the Gundam ended up spinning in space a few times.

Unfortunately, the speed involved caused the grapple to rip straight out from its reinforced hardpoint and wrap the rest of itself around the Freedom.

"Damage to the tail." NEMO reports; the grapple had taken one of the Dracula's tail fins.

"Worth it." Ribbon grins and uses the momentary confusion of the Freedom to align the Dracula's back to the Gundam. "Nemo?"

"ODLS, full discharge." NEMO announces. "Burn, baby, burn."

Sadly, due to the Dracula being almost dry, the Freedom wasn't so much as 'burned' as simply 'greatly singed'. However, the damage done to the Freedom encompassed its cameras and control systems, and thus the Freedom was crippled well enough for the Civilian Astrays to come in with their own tools, tie the Gundam up, and drag it home to the DSSD.

…

…

While that was happening, however…

[Stonehenge]

…

"Uh…boss?"

Murata Azrael didn't look up from his stack of documents (he's taken to working in the Stonehenge command center for convenience). "What's wrong now?" He asks lazily.

The operator who addressed him blinks at the screen. "There are a lot of dots coming down over our heads."

That got Murata's attention. "Enemies? ZAFT?"

"We're not recognizing their IFF, so it's not in Usea's banks or ours." The operator says. "Some of them are the Ghosts Usea newly encountered though."

_So it's the new targets? _Murata puts his documents aside. "Given their history of attacking Usea, they're probably enemies."

"Incoming message from Usea," another operator (a cute little hazel-haired girl) announces. "We are to open fire on the unknowns."

"Thought as much." Murata smiles slightly. "Activate Stonehenge! Open fire!"

"Yes sir!" the base commander grins. "Fire!"

…

Nothing happened.

"What's going on?" The base commander demands.

"Stonehenge isn't responding." Operator Girl replies in panic. "All guns are not responding to commands!"

"Did we get hacked? When did that happen?" The commander mutters. "Damn. Purge the system and cut all outside connections, bring our backup online!"

The base does as commanded, going to backup power temporarily as they cut power to break any outside connections. Azrael couldn't help but marvel at the sheer capacity of the Stonehenge installation as it went down and back online in a matter of seconds.

Operator Girl typed in a few commands when the main power came back online. "It's not responding to any input…the gun control servos must've been compromised."

_That's not possible. _Azrael wanted to point out, but was interrupted before he could speak by the face of a middle-aged man with dirty grey hair interjecting itself onto the main control room screen.

"Well…you must be Murata Azrael." The man said, looking down on the blue-suited leader of Blue Cosmos. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. Your operation to obtain Stonehenge was certainly unexpected."

"And who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?" Azrael asks with a nervous smile.

The man ignored him. "Historically, you were supposed to become a major factor within the Natural forces die aboard the Dominion…I suppose that's no longer possible with you holed up here on Earth, now is it?"

Azrael was now apprehensive. "Historically? What do you mean by that?"

The man ignored him again. "I suppose I can consider this to be a reasonable side effect of introducing foreign elements to a pre-established timeline." He scoffs. "Looks like I need to reassess the potential of the Bleu Cosmos…" The man then looked directly at Azrael for the first time. "I do, however, thank you for your connection to Logos. The knowledge they held proved greatly beneficial."

_The hell… _Azrael frowns. _Wait, Logos had a technical leak a month ago that left virtually no traces. Were they somehow responsible? _"I won't ask you again; who are you? Who do you work for?"

"It is not beneficial to give our names to the dead." The man replies tonelessly…almost robot-like. "We will be seizing this station for our future efforts. I trust you will have no problems with this."

Stonehenge as an installation then shook as something heavy impacted the base.

"But it would be improper to deny knowledge as it is demanded…" The man has the barest hint of a smile.

…

[DSSD]

…

The Freedom was hauled into an empty station and Waltfield opened it up.

Strapped to the Freedom's cockpit seat was Kira, with wires running from his flight suit onto a massive panel installed in the back.

"Holy…cut him out, right now!" Murrue orders and the station crew moves to do as she commands.

They didn't need to bother though; the wires automatically detached themselves from Kira a few seconds later, and the boy fell forward into Waltfield's arm.

"At least he's still breathing." Waltfield sighs. "You guys, get him some help." He nods to Kira's friends.

"We'll take care of him." Sai promises, and with Tolle the two help support the unconscious Yamato up and away…as Miriallia beats herself up for being angry at him.

…

…

The Unknown attack upon Stonhenge was covered up by Stonehenge itself, especially as it sent a message to Usea that the attackers were dealt with and required no support…along with an expertly doctored video footage of the action.

Due to the lingering doubts of one minor Usean officer, a single scout boat was sent to Stonehenge to confirm that it was indeed safe and did not require help. However, even then, it would take another two weeks before Usea received notice that the scout boat sent to do the scouting was sunk in action around supposedly friendly waters.

…

[During the Two Weeks]

…

[Unknown]

"Operation Seed has reached its projected halfway point." The female voice announces. "We are now waiting for their retaliation."

"Good…what did you think of Azrael?" The male voice asks her.

"He could have been more interesting." The female voice replies bluntly. "I hope his continued existence proves to be useful to us."

"I do as well…proceed with the secondary part of the operation. Begin leaking data to the Usea high command."

…

[DSSD]

…

Kira woke up looking upwards into a soft, white light. He momentarily panicked and thought he was back at…wherever it was, but the soft snoring by his bed alerted him that he was, in fact, in the company of other humans.

Namely, his three friends had fallen asleep by his bed.

Kira sat up, feeling a little rough around the edges but otherwise ok. The sound of him getting up managed to disturb Tolle (who by now was a light sleeper) and his piloting buddy looked up at him bearily…before breaking into a smile.

"Kira…you're up." Tolle yawns. "What happened to you?" He asks once he's shaken the sleep from his eyes.

_Tolle's voice woke the other two, and Miriallia proceeded to give Kira a bone-breaking hug._

"Uh…it's a bit of a blur, actually." Kira admits once he could breathe again. "Last thing I remember was seeing some place with a lot of electronics, before they stuffed me into some weird cockpit thing."

The three of them pelted Kira with some more questions before the head doctor kicked them out.

The next day, they received a proper debriefing…from Nemo, of all people.

"The system installed into the Freedom is a modified version of the COFFIN system." Nemo reports, "by default, the COFFIN system allows the pilot to control the unit in question through neural connections."

Mu didn't like that. "Whoa, whoa. It lets you fly with your _mind_?!"

"It is a modified version." Nemo points out. "In this case, it lets Kira control the Freedom Gundam through the signals within his entire body, allowing him to use the Freedom as if it was his own limbs." Nemo chuckles. "Perversely, it is the application of this system that made the Freedom easy to bring down, as Kira's body was unaccustomed to operating in outer space."

"Thank goodness for that." Ribbon notes. "You ok, kid?" He asks.

Kira nods. "I'm fine now, thank you…is there anything else you can tell me about the Gundam?"

"Well…prior to us shutting it down, the Gundam was transmitting a copious amount of data elsewhere. Given the packets of data the DSSD staff managed to intercept and decrypt, it is my personal belief that the deployment of the Freedom was for strictly data gathering purposes."

"That's all fine and good, but they've lost their toy." Chief engineer Murdoch says gruffly. "Whoever it is, they're not all that smart."

"I would have to disagree." A DSSD chief scientist (nametag: Sol Ryuune L'ange) says. "The data was plenty clear that the Freedom was discarded due to having collected sufficient data."

"So I only won on a technicality?" Ribbon sighs theatrically. "Woe is me." He says with a glance at his Dracula, now with a tail fin missing. "What else do we know?"

"Well…nothing beyond that." Nemo concludes. "Although I do have a conjecture."

"Share it with the class, Nemo." Waltfield says.

"I believe that the Freedom and mister Yamato were both sent to collect data for a piloting program." Nemo says. "Thus, it is now entirely possible that the enemy's Ghosts would be outfitted with AIs comparable to Mister Yamato's skill."

There's a moment of dead silence as everyone in attendance let that sink in.

…

[Unknown]

…

"Is it a loss to release the Coordinator so early from us?" The female voice asks.

"It is a short term loss." The male voice admits. "However, having Yamato on the enemy side will help their growth. It is a preferable alternative to having the enemy focus on him and him alone."

"And what of the other?" The female voice wonders.

"He knows that we are using him and allows himself to be used for his greater goal." The male voice sighs. "He will be useful for additional data, but I doubt he will be much beyond that."

"I see."

…

[Following the Two Weeks]

…

Usea military elements across Earth received a command.

"'Stonehenge has been compromised. Kill it.'" Blaze summarized. "How was it compromised? It was under Usean control, right?"

"Judging by the sound of things, it was attacked two weeks ago…" Talisman says. "Whoever attacked it fed Usea spoofed data until now."

The two of them were testing out the mass produced CFA-144M Draculas that Gründer were churning out as fast as they can. They were flying against X-02s being piloted by the rest of Wardog Squadron and a small contingent of Astrays flown by Orb pilots.

_The Mass Produced CFA-144M Dracula have an onboard computer to assist with targeting (much like NEMO) but lack Nemo's sophistication. Also, owing to the data gathered from Ribbon's fight with the Freedom, the mass production versions have a minor version of the ODLS (featuring only four discharge nodes) and extra batteries devoted specially for the ODLS systems._

"So this makes Stonehenge an enemy again, huh? Who took it over this time?" Blaze asks as an X-02 pings him. "I see you, Archer." He adds.

"Roger, captain. Here I go!" Hans Grimm (callsign Archer) says a tad shakily.

"We don't know who took it over, which is why it's surprising." Talisman continued, flying against another X-02 being piloted by Nagase (callsign Edge). "By the sounds of things, it was the attacking faction that let Usea know they attacked the installation to begin with."

"Huh? Really?" Blaze casually executes a barrel roll and places himself behind Archer's X-02. "They're pretty damn confident, aren't they, taunting us like that."

Archer's X-02 made some evasive maneuvers but it couldn't throw off the Dracula on its tail, and soon flashed the signals for defeat.

"I personally don't think it's a taunt." Talisman replies. "The data leak was too well executed." He then inverts and evades the X-02 being piloted by Marcus Snow (callsign Swordsman) before he could settle on Talisman's tail.

"So they want us to hit them." Blaze summarizes. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's not just an act of kindness or hubris." He then dives and 'sweeps' the Astray with his guns. "Faster on your engines, kids; you'll die if you stand around like that." He warns them.

"Yes sir!" The Orb pilot captain replies readily.

"I think Usea's going to pool their resources for this one." Talisman says. "It's going to be big."

"Stop chatting and take us seriously, dammit!" Swordsman snaps.

In response, Talisman executes a sudden Kulbit (a super-tight loop turn) and Swordman overshoots Talisman's Dracula badly.

"Tag." Talisman says with a cheeky grin. "You're it."

Swordman gapes. "Uh…best two out of three?"

…

[Unknown]

…

"Usea will mount an attack on Stonehenge with a concentrated force within three days." The female voice says. "They are moving a little slower than expected."

"It is no matter; continue to grant them information as planned."

The female voice could've bowed. "Understood."

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes:

Rush to completion train might've hit a few snags.

_A few snags called work._


End file.
